diff --git a/packages/vite-node/src/externalize.ts b/packages/vite-node/src/externalize.ts
index 7dcf090e3..808508b5a 100644
--- a/packages/vite-node/src/externalize.ts
+++ b/packages/vite-node/src/externalize.ts
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ const defaultInline = [
 ]
 
 const depsExternal = [
-  /\.cjs\.js$/,
-  /\.mjs$/,
+  /\/node_modules\/.*\.cjs\.js$/,
+  /\/node_modules\/.*\.mjs$/,
 ]
 
 export function guessCJSversion(id: string): string | undefined {
diff --git a/test/vite-node/src/watched.js b/test/vite-node/src/watch/index.cjs
similarity index 100%
rename from test/vite-node/src/watched.js
rename to test/vite-node/src/watch/index.cjs
diff --git a/test/vite-node/src/watch/index.js b/test/vite-node/src/watch/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..54046b60b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/vite-node/src/watch/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+// eslint-disable-next-line no-console
+console.log('test 1')
diff --git a/test/vite-node/src/watch/index.mjs b/test/vite-node/src/watch/index.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..54046b60b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/vite-node/src/watch/index.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+// eslint-disable-next-line no-console
+console.log('test 1')
diff --git a/test/vite-node/test/cli.test.ts b/test/vite-node/test/cli.test.ts
index 08625c318..893d4bb80 100644
--- a/test/vite-node/test/cli.test.ts
+++ b/test/vite-node/test/cli.test.ts
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@ it('script args in -- after', async () => {
   expect(parseResult(cli1.stdout)).include('--version').include('--help')
 })
 
-it('correctly runs --watch', async () => {
-  const entryPath = resolve(__dirname, '../src/watched.js')
+it.each(['index.js', 'index.cjs', 'index.mjs'])('correctly runs --watch %s', async (file) => {
+  const entryPath = resolve(__dirname, '../src/watch', file)
   const cli = await runViteNodeCli('--watch', entryPath)
   await cli.waitForStdout('test 1')
   editFile(entryPath, c => c.replace('test 1', 'test 2'))