diff --git a/lib/Server.js b/lib/Server.js
index 5425f7be31..e086fa7956 100644
--- a/lib/Server.js
+++ b/lib/Server.js
@@ -105,11 +105,8 @@ class Server {
     if (!this.options.watchOptions) {
       this.options.watchOptions = {};
     }
-    // Ignoring node_modules folder by default
-    this.options.watchOptions.ignored = this.options.watchOptions.ignored || [
-      /node_modules/,
-    ];
-    this.watchOptions = this.options.watchOptions;
+
+    this.watchOptions = options.watchOptions || {};
 
     // Replace leading and trailing slashes to normalize path
     this.sockPath = `/${
diff --git a/test/ContentBase.test.js b/test/ContentBase.test.js
index b908657a87..fd7d99e8e5 100644
--- a/test/ContentBase.test.js
+++ b/test/ContentBase.test.js
@@ -63,76 +63,6 @@ describe('ContentBase', () => {
     });
   });
 
-  describe('test ignoring node_modules folder by Default', () => {
-    beforeAll((done) => {
-      server = testServer.start(config, {
-        contentBase: contentBasePublic,
-        watchContentBase: true,
-      });
-      // making sure that chokidar has read all the files
-      server.contentBaseWatchers[0].on('ready', () => {
-        done();
-      });
-      req = request(server.app);
-    });
-
-    afterAll((done) => {
-      testServer.close(() => {
-        done();
-      });
-    });
-
-    it('Should ignore node_modules & watch bar', (done) => {
-      const watchedPaths = server.contentBaseWatchers[0].getWatched();
-      // check if node_modules folder is not in watched list
-      const folderWatched = !!watchedPaths[
-        path.join(contentBasePublic, 'node_modules')
-      ];
-      expect(folderWatched).toEqual(false);
-      // check if bar folder is in watched list
-      expect(watchedPaths[path.join(contentBasePublic, 'bar')]).toEqual([
-        'index.html',
-      ]);
-
-      done();
-    });
-  });
-
-  describe('test not ignoring node_modules folder', () => {
-    beforeAll((done) => {
-      server = testServer.start(config, {
-        contentBase: contentBasePublic,
-        watchContentBase: true,
-        watchOptions: {
-          ignored: /bar/,
-        },
-      });
-      // making sure that chokidar has read all the files
-      server.contentBaseWatchers[0].on('ready', () => {
-        done();
-      });
-      req = request(server.app);
-    });
-
-    afterAll((done) => {
-      testServer.close(() => {
-        done();
-      });
-    });
-
-    it('Should watch node_modules & ignore bar', (done) => {
-      const watchedPaths = server.contentBaseWatchers[0].getWatched();
-      // check if node_modules folder is in watched list
-      expect(
-        watchedPaths[path.join(contentBasePublic, 'node_modules')]
-      ).toEqual(['index.html']);
-      // check if bar folder is not in watched list
-      const folderWatched = !!watchedPaths[path.join(contentBasePublic, 'bar')];
-      expect(folderWatched).toEqual(false);
-      done();
-    });
-  });
-
   describe('test listing files in folders without index.html using the option serveIndex:false', () => {
     beforeAll((done) => {
       server = testServer.start(
diff --git a/test/fixtures/contentbase-config/public/node_modules/index.html b/test/fixtures/contentbase-config/public/node_modules/index.html
deleted file mode 100644
index e69de29bb2..0000000000