diff --git a/lib/internal/main/watch_mode.js b/lib/internal/main/watch_mode.js
index c594f64bfca87d..4381cf0d381461 100644
--- a/lib/internal/main/watch_mode.js
+++ b/lib/internal/main/watch_mode.js
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ const {
   ArrayPrototypePush,
   ArrayPrototypePushApply,
   ArrayPrototypeSlice,
-  StringPrototypeIncludes,
   StringPrototypeStartsWith,
 } = primordials;
 
@@ -44,8 +43,10 @@ const argsWithoutWatchOptions = [];
 for (let i = 0; i < process.execArgv.length; i++) {
   const arg = process.execArgv[i];
   if (StringPrototypeStartsWith(arg, '--watch')) {
-    if (!StringPrototypeIncludes(arg, '=')) {
-      i++;
+    i++;
+    const nextArg = process.execArgv[i];
+    if (nextArg && StringPrototypeStartsWith(nextArg, '-')) {
+      ArrayPrototypePush(argsWithoutWatchOptions, nextArg);
     }
     continue;
   }
diff --git a/test/sequential/test-watch-mode.mjs b/test/sequential/test-watch-mode.mjs
index cc8c56d67ec77e..8bf0bdff7899d2 100644
--- a/test/sequential/test-watch-mode.mjs
+++ b/test/sequential/test-watch-mode.mjs
@@ -39,7 +39,9 @@ async function runWriteSucceed({
   options = {},
   shouldFail = false
 }) {
-  const child = spawn(execPath, [watchFlag, '--no-warnings', ...args], { encoding: 'utf8', stdio: 'pipe', ...options });
+  args.unshift('--no-warnings');
+  if (watchFlag !== null) args.unshift(watchFlag);
+  const child = spawn(execPath, args, { encoding: 'utf8', stdio: 'pipe', ...options });
   let completes = 0;
   let cancelRestarts = () => {};
   let stderr = '';
@@ -531,4 +533,45 @@ console.log(values.random);
       `Completed running ${inspect(file)}`,
     ]);
   });
+
+  it('should run when `--watch --inspect`', async () => {
+    const file = createTmpFile();
+    const args = ['--watch', '--inspect', file];
+    const { stdout, stderr } = await runWriteSucceed({ file, watchedFile: file, watchFlag: null, args });
+
+    assert.match(stderr, /listening on ws:\/\//);
+    assert.deepStrictEqual(stdout, [
+      'running',
+      `Completed running ${inspect(file)}`,
+      `Restarting ${inspect(file)}`,
+      'running',
+      `Completed running ${inspect(file)}`,
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  it('should run when `--watch -r ./foo.js`', async () => {
+    const projectDir = tmpdir.resolve('project7');
+    mkdirSync(projectDir);
+
+    const dir = path.join(projectDir, 'watched-dir');
+    mkdirSync(dir);
+    writeFileSync(path.join(projectDir, 'some.js'), "console.log('hello')");
+
+    const file = createTmpFile("console.log('running');", '.js', projectDir);
+    const args = ['--watch', '-r', './some.js', file];
+    const { stdout, stderr } = await runWriteSucceed({
+      file, watchedFile: file, watchFlag: null, args, options: { cwd: projectDir }
+    });
+
+    assert.strictEqual(stderr, '');
+    assert.deepStrictEqual(stdout, [
+      'hello',
+      'running',
+      `Completed running ${inspect(file)}`,
+      `Restarting ${inspect(file)}`,
+      'hello',
+      'running',
+      `Completed running ${inspect(file)}`,
+    ]);
+  });
 });