diff --git a/src/api/child_process.ts b/src/api/child_process.ts
index aeeb33b..fd95e52 100644
--- a/src/api/child_process.ts
+++ b/src/api/child_process.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import { createServer } from 'node:http'
 import getPort from 'get-port'
 import type WebSocket from 'ws'
 import { WebSocketServer } from 'ws'
-import { formatPkg, showVitestError } from '../utils'
+import { findNode, formatPkg, showVitestError } from '../utils'
 import { createErrorLogger, log } from '../log'
 import { getConfig } from '../config'
 import { workerPath } from '../constants'
@@ -32,14 +32,15 @@ export async function createVitestProcess(pkg: VitestPackage) {
       ]
     : runtimeArgs
   const arvString = execArgv.join(' ')
-  const script = `node ${arvString ? `${arvString} ` : ''}${workerPath}`.trim()
+  const executable = await findNode(pkg.cwd)
+  const script = `${executable} ${arvString ? `${arvString} ` : ''}${workerPath}`.trim()
   log.info('[API]', `Running ${formatPkg(pkg)} with "${script}"`)
   const logLevel = getConfig(pkg.folder).logLevel
   const port = await getPort()
   const server = createServer().listen(port).unref()
   const wss = new WebSocketServer({ server })
   const wsAddress = `ws://localhost:${port}`
-  const vitest = spawn(getConfig(pkg.folder).nodeExecutable || 'node', [...execArgv, workerPath], {
+  const vitest = spawn(executable, [...execArgv, workerPath], {
     env: {
       ...process.env,
       ...env,
diff --git a/src/debug.ts b/src/debug.ts
index 67041c5..dcba5e1 100644
--- a/src/debug.ts
+++ b/src/debug.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import { workerPath } from './constants'
 import type { WsConnectionMetadata } from './api/ws'
 import { waitForWsConnection } from './api/ws'
 import type { ExtensionWorkerProcess } from './api/types'
+import { findNode } from './utils'
 
 export async function debugTests(
   controller: vscode.TestController,
@@ -172,8 +173,9 @@ async function getRuntimeOptions(pkg: VitestPackage) {
       ]
     : runtimeArgs
   if (config.shellType === 'child_process') {
+    const executable = await findNode(pkg.cwd)
     return {
-      runtimeExecutable: config.nodeExecutable || 'node',
+      runtimeExecutable: executable,
       runtimeArgs: execArgv,
     }
   }
@@ -197,17 +199,18 @@ class ExtensionDebugProcess implements ExtensionWorkerProcess {
     this._stopped = new Promise((resolve) => {
       const { dispose } = vscode.debug.onDidTerminateDebugSession((terminatedSession) => {
         if (session === terminatedSession) {
-          dispose()
-          resolve()
           this._onDidExit.fire()
           this._onDidExit.dispose()
           this.closed = true
+          resolve()
+          dispose()
         }
       })
     })
     // if websocket connection stopped working, close the debug session
-    // otherwise it might hand indefinitely
+    // otherwise it might hang indefinitely
     ws.on('close', () => {
+      this.closed = true
       this.close()
     })
   }
diff --git a/src/utils.ts b/src/utils.ts
index 99b65d4..2548c59 100644
--- a/src/utils.ts
+++ b/src/utils.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,11 @@
 import fs from 'node:fs'
+import { spawn } from 'node:child_process'
 import * as vscode from 'vscode'
 import { dirname, relative } from 'pathe'
+import which from 'which'
 import type { VitestPackage } from './api/pkg'
 import { log } from './log'
+import { getConfig } from './config'
 
 export function noop() {}
 
@@ -91,3 +94,66 @@ export function waitUntilExists(file: string, timeoutMs = 5000) {
     }, 50)
   })
 }
+
+let pathToNodeJS: string | undefined
+
+// based on https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-vscode/blob/main/src/utils.ts#L144
+export async function findNode(cwd: string): Promise<string> {
+  if (getConfig().nodeExecutable)
+    // if empty string, keep as undefined
+    pathToNodeJS = getConfig().nodeExecutable || undefined
+
+  if (pathToNodeJS)
+    return pathToNodeJS
+
+  // Stage 1: Try to find Node.js via process.env.PATH
+  let node: string | null = await which('node', { nothrow: true })
+  // Stage 2: When extension host boots, it does not have the right env set, so we might need to wait.
+  for (let i = 0; i < 5 && !node; ++i) {
+    await new Promise(f => setTimeout(f, 200))
+    node = await which('node', { nothrow: true })
+  }
+  // Stage 3: If we still haven't found Node.js, try to find it via a subprocess.
+  // This evaluates shell rc/profile files and makes nvm work.
+  node ??= await findNodeViaShell(cwd)
+
+  if (!node) {
+    const msg = `Unable to find 'node' executable.\nMake sure to have Node.js installed and available in your PATH.\nCurrent PATH: '${process.env.PATH}'.`
+    log.error(msg)
+    throw new Error(msg)
+  }
+  pathToNodeJS = node
+  return node
+}
+
+async function findNodeViaShell(cwd: string): Promise<string | null> {
+  if (process.platform === 'win32')
+    return null
+  return new Promise<string | null>((resolve) => {
+    const startToken = '___START_SHELL__'
+    const endToken = '___END_SHELL__'
+    try {
+      const childProcess = spawn(`${vscode.env.shell} -i -c 'if [[ $(type node 2>/dev/null) == *function* ]]; then node --version; fi; echo ${startToken} && which node && echo ${endToken}'`, {
+        stdio: 'pipe',
+        shell: true,
+        cwd,
+      })
+      let output = ''
+      childProcess.stdout.on('data', data => output += data.toString())
+      childProcess.on('error', () => resolve(null))
+      childProcess.on('exit', (exitCode) => {
+        if (exitCode !== 0)
+          return resolve(null)
+        const start = output.indexOf(startToken)
+        const end = output.indexOf(endToken)
+        if (start === -1 || end === -1)
+          return resolve(null)
+        return resolve(output.substring(start + startToken.length, end).trim())
+      })
+    }
+    catch (e) {
+      log.error('[SPAWN]', vscode.env.shell, e)
+      resolve(null)
+    }
+  })
+}