diff --git a/packages/vite-node/package.json b/packages/vite-node/package.json
index 25e3dc0f0cce..f0f31f22ef74 100644
--- a/packages/vite-node/package.json
+++ b/packages/vite-node/package.json
@@ -45,7 +45,8 @@
       "types": "./dist/source-map.d.ts",
       "require": "./dist/source-map.cjs",
       "import": "./dist/source-map.mjs"
-    }
+    },
+    "./*": "./*"
   },
   "main": "./dist/index.mjs",
   "module": "./dist/index.mjs",
diff --git a/packages/vite-node/src/hmr/emitter.ts b/packages/vite-node/src/hmr/emitter.ts
index 1faa87fdedfb..304cfa014ef8 100644
--- a/packages/vite-node/src/hmr/emitter.ts
+++ b/packages/vite-node/src/hmr/emitter.ts
@@ -37,6 +37,12 @@ export function viteNodeHmrPlugin(): Plugin {
         _send(payload)
         emitter.emit('message', payload)
       }
+      if (process.env.VITE_NODE_WATCHER_DEBUG) {
+        server.watcher.on('ready', () => {
+          // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
+          console.log('[vie-node] watcher is ready')
+        })
+      }
     },
   }
 }
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
index 48cf26e137bf..03eaff59afa4 100644
--- a/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -1850,6 +1850,9 @@ importers:
       vite:
         specifier: ^4.3.9
         version: 4.3.9(@types/node@18.16.19)
+      vite-node:
+        specifier: workspace:*
+        version: link:../../packages/vite-node
       vitest:
         specifier: workspace:*
         version: link:../../packages/vitest
diff --git a/test/test-utils/index.ts b/test/test-utils/index.ts
index 99ab08ece2e9..171a245cd644 100644
--- a/test/test-utils/index.ts
+++ b/test/test-utils/index.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { Console } from 'node:console'
 import { Writable } from 'node:stream'
+import fs from 'node:fs'
 import { type UserConfig, type VitestRunMode, afterEach } from 'vitest'
 import type { Vitest } from 'vitest/node'
 import { startVitest } from 'vitest/node'
@@ -86,7 +87,7 @@ function captureLogs() {
   }
 }
 
-export async function runVitestCli(_options?: Options | string, ...args: string[]) {
+export async function runCli(command: string, _options?: Options | string, ...args: string[]) {
   let options = _options
 
   if (typeof _options === 'string') {
@@ -94,7 +95,7 @@ export async function runVitestCli(_options?: Options | string, ...args: string[
     options = undefined
   }
 
-  const subprocess = execa('vitest', args, options as Options)
+  const subprocess = execa(command, args, options as Options)
 
   let setDone: (value?: unknown) => void
   const isDone = new Promise(resolve => (setDone = resolve))
@@ -115,7 +116,7 @@ export async function runVitestCli(_options?: Options | string, ...args: string[
           return resolve()
 
         const timeout = setTimeout(() => {
-          reject(new Error(`Timeout when waiting for output "${expected}".\nReceived:\n${this.stdout}. \nStderr:\n${this.stderr}`))
+          reject(new Error(`Timeout when waiting for output "${expected}".\nReceived:\n${this.stdout} \nStderr:\n${this.stderr}`))
         }, process.env.CI ? 20_000 : 4_000)
 
         const listener = () => {
@@ -136,7 +137,7 @@ export async function runVitestCli(_options?: Options | string, ...args: string[
           return resolve()
 
         const timeout = setTimeout(() => {
-          reject(new Error(`Timeout when waiting for error "${expected}".\nReceived:\n${this.stderr}`))
+          reject(new Error(`Timeout when waiting for error "${expected}".\nReceived:\n${this.stderr}\nStdout:\n${this.stdout}`))
         }, process.env.CI ? 20_000 : 4_000)
 
         const listener = () => {
@@ -177,6 +178,14 @@ export async function runVitestCli(_options?: Options | string, ...args: string[
     await vitest.isDone
   })
 
+  if (command !== 'vitest') {
+    if (!args.includes('--watch'))
+      await vitest.isDone
+    else
+      await vitest.waitForStdout('[vie-node] watcher is ready')
+    return vitest
+  }
+
   if (args.includes('--watch')) { // Wait for initial test run to complete
     await vitest.waitForStdout('Waiting for file changes')
     vitest.resetOutput()
@@ -187,3 +196,26 @@ export async function runVitestCli(_options?: Options | string, ...args: string[
 
   return vitest
 }
+
+export async function runVitestCli(_options?: Options | string, ...args: string[]) {
+  return runCli('vitest', _options, ...args)
+}
+
+export async function runViteNodeCli(_options?: Options | string, ...args: string[]) {
+  process.env.VITE_NODE_WATCHER_DEBUG = 'true'
+  return runCli('vite-node', _options, ...args)
+}
+
+const originalFiles = new Map<string, string>()
+afterEach(() => {
+  originalFiles.forEach((content, file) => {
+    fs.writeFileSync(file, content, 'utf-8')
+  })
+})
+
+export function editFile(file: string, callback: (content: string) => string) {
+  const content = fs.readFileSync(file, 'utf-8')
+  if (!originalFiles.has(file))
+    originalFiles.set(file, content)
+  fs.writeFileSync(file, callback(content), 'utf-8')
+}
diff --git a/test/test-utils/package.json b/test/test-utils/package.json
index a9b39f620758..8005128685c5 100644
--- a/test/test-utils/package.json
+++ b/test/test-utils/package.json
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
     "execa": "^7.1.1",
     "strip-ansi": "^7.0.1",
     "vite": "latest",
+    "vite-node": "workspace:*",
     "vitest": "workspace:*"
   }
 }
diff --git a/test/vite-node/src/watched.js b/test/vite-node/src/watched.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..54046b60bfa1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/vite-node/src/watched.js
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+// eslint-disable-next-line no-console
+console.log('test 1')
diff --git a/test/vite-node/test/circular.test.ts b/test/vite-node/test/circular.test.ts
index 297c7dd93cda..e17152ff00bf 100644
--- a/test/vite-node/test/circular.test.ts
+++ b/test/vite-node/test/circular.test.ts
@@ -1,17 +1,15 @@
 import { expect, test } from 'vitest'
-import { execa } from 'execa'
 import { resolve } from 'pathe'
-
-const cliPath = resolve(__dirname, '../../../packages/vite-node/src/cli.ts')
+import { runViteNodeCli } from '../../test-utils'
 
 test('circular 1', async () => {
   const entryPath = resolve(__dirname, '../src/circular1/index.ts')
-  const result = await execa('npx', ['esno', cliPath, entryPath], { reject: true })
-  expect(result.stdout).toMatchInlineSnapshot('"A Bindex index"')
+  const cli = await runViteNodeCli(entryPath)
+  expect(cli.stdout).toContain('A Bindex index')
 }, 60_000)
 
 test('circular 2', async () => {
   const entryPath = resolve(__dirname, '../src/circular2/index.ts')
-  const result = await execa('npx', ['esno', cliPath, entryPath], { reject: true })
-  expect(result.stdout).toMatchInlineSnapshot('"ac b"')
+  const cli = await runViteNodeCli(entryPath)
+  expect(cli.stdout).toContain('ac b')
 }, 60_000)
diff --git a/test/vite-node/test/cli.test.ts b/test/vite-node/test/cli.test.ts
index 600a316cf971..08625c318794 100644
--- a/test/vite-node/test/cli.test.ts
+++ b/test/vite-node/test/cli.test.ts
@@ -1,38 +1,48 @@
-import { execa } from 'execa'
 import { resolve } from 'pathe'
+import pkg from 'vite-node/package.json'
 import { expect, it } from 'vitest'
+import { editFile, runViteNodeCli } from '../../test-utils'
 
-const cliPath = resolve(__dirname, '../../../packages/vite-node/src/cli.ts')
 const entryPath = resolve(__dirname, '../src/cli-parse-args.js')
 
+const version = (pkg as any).version
+
 const parseResult = (s: string) => JSON.parse(s.replaceAll('\'', '"'))
 
 it('basic', async () => {
-  const result = await execa('npx', ['esno', cliPath, entryPath], { reject: true })
-  expect(result.stdout).include('node')
-  expect(parseResult(result.stdout)).length(2)
-}, 60_000)
+  const cli = await runViteNodeCli(entryPath)
+  expect(cli.stdout).toContain('node')
+  expect(parseResult(cli.stdout)).toHaveLength(2)
+})
 
 it('--help', async () => {
-  const r1 = await execa('npx', ['esno', cliPath, '--help', entryPath], { reject: true })
-  expect(r1.stdout).include('help')
-  const r2 = await execa('npx', ['esno', cliPath, '-h', entryPath], { reject: true })
-  expect(r2.stdout).include('help')
-}, 60_000)
+  const cli1 = await runViteNodeCli('--help', entryPath)
+  expect(cli1.stdout).toContain('Usage:')
+  const cli2 = await runViteNodeCli('-h', entryPath)
+  expect(cli2.stdout).toContain('Usage:')
+})
 
 it('--version', async () => {
-  const r1 = await execa('npx', ['esno', cliPath, '--version', entryPath], { reject: true })
-  expect(r1.stdout).include('vite-node/')
-  const r2 = await execa('npx', ['esno', cliPath, '-v', entryPath], { reject: true })
-  expect(r2.stdout).include('vite-node/')
-}, 60_000)
+  const cli1 = await runViteNodeCli('--version', entryPath)
+  expect(cli1.stdout).toContain(`vite-node/${version}`)
+  const cli2 = await runViteNodeCli('-v', entryPath)
+  expect(cli2.stdout).toContain(`vite-node/${version}`)
+})
 
 it('script args', async () => {
-  const r1 = await execa('npx', ['esno', cliPath, entryPath, '--version', '--help'], { reject: true })
-  expect(parseResult(r1.stdout)).include('--version').include('--help')
-}, 60_000)
+  const cli1 = await runViteNodeCli(entryPath, '--version', '--help')
+  expect(parseResult(cli1.stdout)).include('--version').include('--help')
+})
 
 it('script args in -- after', async () => {
-  const r1 = await execa('npx', ['esno', cliPath, entryPath, '--', '--version', '--help'], { reject: true })
-  expect(parseResult(r1.stdout)).include('--version').include('--help')
-}, 60_000)
+  const cli1 = await runViteNodeCli(entryPath, '--', '--version', '--help')
+  expect(parseResult(cli1.stdout)).include('--version').include('--help')
+})
+
+it('correctly runs --watch', async () => {
+  const entryPath = resolve(__dirname, '../src/watched.js')
+  const cli = await runViteNodeCli('--watch', entryPath)
+  await cli.waitForStdout('test 1')
+  editFile(entryPath, c => c.replace('test 1', 'test 2'))
+  await cli.waitForStdout('test 2')
+})
diff --git a/test/vite-node/test/self-export.test.ts b/test/vite-node/test/self-export.test.ts
index 53cfc47dfff4..e4b7cc51dd62 100644
--- a/test/vite-node/test/self-export.test.ts
+++ b/test/vite-node/test/self-export.test.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { expect, it } from 'vitest'
-import { execa } from 'execa'
 import { resolve } from 'pathe'
 import ansiEscapes, { HelloWorld } from '../src/self-export'
+import { runViteNodeCli } from '../../test-utils'
 
 it('should export self', () => {
   expect(ansiEscapes.HelloWorld).eq(HelloWorld)
@@ -9,16 +9,14 @@ it('should export self', () => {
   expect(HelloWorld).eq(1)
 })
 
-const cliPath = resolve(__dirname, '../../../packages/vite-node/src/cli.ts')
-
 it('example 1', async () => {
   const entryPath = resolve(__dirname, '../src/self-export-example1.ts')
-  const result = await execa('npx', ['esno', cliPath, entryPath], { reject: true })
-  expect(result.stdout).includes('Function')
+  const cli = await runViteNodeCli(entryPath)
+  await cli.waitForStdout('Function')
 }, 60_000)
 
 it('example 2', async () => {
   const entryPath = resolve(__dirname, '../src/self-export-example2.ts')
-  const result = await execa('npx', ['esno', cliPath, entryPath], { reject: true })
-  expect(result.stdout).includes('HelloWorld: 1').includes('default')
+  const cli = await runViteNodeCli(entryPath)
+  await cli.waitForStdout('HelloWorld: 1')
 }, 60_000)