diff --git a/packages/node/src/generators/application/application.spec.ts b/packages/node/src/generators/application/application.spec.ts
index 20b6be3ef703e..97259b213eb27 100644
--- a/packages/node/src/generators/application/application.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/node/src/generators/application/application.spec.ts
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ describe('app', () => {
             },
           },
           serve: {
-            builder: '@nrwl/node:execute',
+            builder: '@nrwl/node:node',
             options: {
               buildTarget: 'my-node-app:build',
             },
diff --git a/packages/node/src/generators/application/application.ts b/packages/node/src/generators/application/application.ts
index a4fd9972e98e3..f5ad92e0eabe3 100644
--- a/packages/node/src/generators/application/application.ts
+++ b/packages/node/src/generators/application/application.ts
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ function getBuildConfig(
 
 function getServeConfig(options: NormalizedSchema): TargetConfiguration {
   return {
-    executor: '@nrwl/node:execute',
+    executor: '@nrwl/node:node',
     options: {
       buildTarget: `${options.name}:build`,
     },