diff --git a/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_test_runner/lib/config/schema.ts b/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_test_runner/lib/config/schema.ts
index 0694bc4ffdb0f..d82b7b83e8f15 100644
--- a/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_test_runner/lib/config/schema.ts
+++ b/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_test_runner/lib/config/schema.ts
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@ import Joi from 'joi';
 // valid pattern for ID
 // enforced camel-case identifiers for consistency
 const ID_PATTERN = /^[a-zA-Z0-9_]+$/;
-const INSPECTING =
-  process.execArgv.includes('--inspect') || process.execArgv.includes('--inspect-brk');
+// it will search both --inspect and --inspect-brk
+const INSPECTING = !!process.execArgv.find((arg) => arg.includes('--inspect'));
 
 const urlPartsSchema = () =>
   Joi.object()
diff --git a/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_tests/lib/run_kibana_server.js b/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_tests/lib/run_kibana_server.js
index 4abbc3d29fe7c..a43d3a09c7d70 100644
--- a/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_tests/lib/run_kibana_server.js
+++ b/packages/kbn-test/src/functional_tests/lib/run_kibana_server.js
@@ -62,15 +62,11 @@ function collectCliArgs(config, { installDir, extraKbnOpts }) {
   const buildArgs = config.get('kbnTestServer.buildArgs') || [];
   const sourceArgs = config.get('kbnTestServer.sourceArgs') || [];
   const serverArgs = config.get('kbnTestServer.serverArgs') || [];
-  const execArgv = process.execArgv || [];
 
   return pipe(
     serverArgs,
     (args) => (installDir ? args.filter((a) => a !== '--oss') : args),
-    (args) =>
-      installDir
-        ? [...buildArgs, ...args]
-        : [...execArgv, KIBANA_EXEC_PATH, ...sourceArgs, ...args],
+    (args) => (installDir ? [...buildArgs, ...args] : [KIBANA_EXEC_PATH, ...sourceArgs, ...args]),
     (args) => args.concat(extraKbnOpts || [])
   );
 }
diff --git a/src/setup_node_env/ensure_node_preserve_symlinks.js b/src/setup_node_env/ensure_node_preserve_symlinks.js
index 0d72ec85e6c87..826244c4829fc 100644
--- a/src/setup_node_env/ensure_node_preserve_symlinks.js
+++ b/src/setup_node_env/ensure_node_preserve_symlinks.js
@@ -9,10 +9,51 @@
 (function () {
   var cp = require('child_process');
 
+  var calculateInspectPortOnExecArgv = function (processExecArgv) {
+    var execArgv = [].concat(processExecArgv);
+
+    if (execArgv.length === 0) {
+      return execArgv;
+    }
+
+    var inspectFlagIndex = execArgv.reverse().findIndex(function (flag) {
+      return flag.startsWith('--inspect');
+    });
+
+    if (inspectFlagIndex !== -1) {
+      var inspectFlag;
+      var inspectPortCounter = 9230;
+      var argv = execArgv[inspectFlagIndex];
+
+      if (argv.includes('=')) {
+        // --inspect=port
+        var argvSplit = argv.split('=');
+        var flag = argvSplit[0];
+        var port = argvSplit[1];
+        inspectFlag = flag;
+        inspectPortCounter = Number.parseInt(port, 10) + 1;
+      } else {
+        // --inspect
+        inspectFlag = argv;
+
+        // is number?
+        if (String(execArgv[inspectFlagIndex + 1]).match(/^[0-9]+$/)) {
+          // --inspect port
+          inspectPortCounter = Number.parseInt(execArgv[inspectFlagIndex + 1], 10) + 1;
+          execArgv.slice(inspectFlagIndex + 1, 1);
+        }
+      }
+
+      execArgv[inspectFlagIndex] = inspectFlag + '=' + inspectPortCounter;
+    }
+
+    return execArgv;
+  };
+
   var preserveSymlinksOption = '--preserve-symlinks';
   var preserveSymlinksMainOption = '--preserve-symlinks-main';
   var nodeOptions = (process && process.env && process.env.NODE_OPTIONS) || [];
-  var nodeExecArgv = (process && process.execArgv) || [];
+  var nodeExecArgv = calculateInspectPortOnExecArgv((process && process.execArgv) || []);
 
   var isPreserveSymlinksPresent =
     nodeOptions.includes(preserveSymlinksOption) || nodeExecArgv.includes(preserveSymlinksOption);