diff --git a/test/js/bun/shell/bunshell-default.test.ts b/test/js/bun/shell/bunshell-default.test.ts
index be46c48976525b..6266b603e86c3f 100644
--- a/test/js/bun/shell/bunshell-default.test.ts
+++ b/test/js/bun/shell/bunshell-default.test.ts
@@ -1,25 +1,54 @@
 import { $ } from "bun";
+import { bunExe, createTestBuilder } from "./test_builder";
+import { bunEnv } from "harness";
+const TestBuilder = createTestBuilder(import.meta.path);
 
 test("default throw on command failure", async () => {
-  try {
-    await $`echo hi; ls oogabooga`.quiet();
-    expect.unreachable();
-  } catch (e: any) {
-    expect(e).toBeInstanceOf(Error);
-    expect(e.exitCode).toBe(1);
-    expect(e.message).toBe("Failed with exit code 1");
-    expect(e.stdout.toString("utf-8")).toBe("hi\n");
-    expect(e.stderr.toString("utf-8")).toBe("ls: oogabooga: No such file or directory\n");
-  }
+  // Run in a subproc because other tests may change the value of $.throws
+  const code = /* ts */ `
+  import { $ } from "bun";
+  import { afterAll, beforeAll, describe, expect, test } from "bun:test";
+  test('test', async () => {
+    try {
+      await $\`echo hi; ls oogabooga\`.quiet();
+      expect.unreachable();
+    } catch (e: any) {
+      expect(e).toBeInstanceOf(Error);
+      expect(e.exitCode).toBe(1);
+      expect(e.message).toBe("Failed with exit code 1");
+      expect(e.stdout.toString("utf-8")).toBe("hi\\n");
+      expect(e.stderr.toString("utf-8")).toBe("ls: oogabooga: No such file or directory\\n");
+    }
+  })
+  `;
+
+  await TestBuilder.command`echo ${code} > index.test.ts; ${bunExe()} test index.test.ts`
+    .ensureTempDir()
+    .stderr(s => s.includes("1 pass"))
+    .env(bunEnv)
+    .run();
 });
 
 test("ShellError has .text()", async () => {
-  try {
-    await $`ls oogabooga`.quiet();
-    expect.unreachable();
-  } catch (e: any) {
-    expect(e).toBeInstanceOf(Error);
-    expect(e.exitCode).toBe(1);
-    expect(e.stderr.toString("utf-8")).toBe("ls: oogabooga: No such file or directory\n");
-  }
+  // Run in a subproc because other tests may change the value of $.throws
+  const code = /* ts */ `
+  import { $ } from "bun";
+  import { afterAll, beforeAll, describe, expect, test } from "bun:test";
+  test('test', async () => {
+    try {
+      await $\`ls oogabooga\`.quiet();
+      expect.unreachable();
+    } catch (e: any) {
+      expect(e).toBeInstanceOf(Error);
+      expect(e.exitCode).toBe(1);
+      expect(e.stderr.toString("utf-8")).toBe("ls: oogabooga: No such file or directory\\n");
+    }
+  })
+  `;
+
+  await TestBuilder.command`echo ${code} > index.test.ts; ${bunExe()} test index.test.ts`
+    .ensureTempDir()
+    .stderr(s => s.includes("1 pass"))
+    .env(bunEnv)
+    .run();
 });
diff --git a/test/js/bun/shell/commands/cp.test.ts b/test/js/bun/shell/commands/cp.test.ts
index b16dc8536ad153..3f57f9a494945b 100644
--- a/test/js/bun/shell/commands/cp.test.ts
+++ b/test/js/bun/shell/commands/cp.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { $ } from "bun";
-import { TestBuilder } from "../test_builder";
+import { createTestBuilder } from "../test_builder";
 import { beforeAll, describe, test, expect, beforeEach } from "bun:test";
 import { sortedShellOutput } from "../util";
 import { tempDirWithFiles } from "harness";
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ import fs from "fs";
 import { shellInternals } from "bun:internal-for-testing";
 const { builtinDisabled } = shellInternals;
 
+const TestBuilder = createTestBuilder(import.meta.path);
+
 const p = process.platform === "win32" ? (s: string) => s.replaceAll("/", "\\") : (s: string) => s;
 
 $.nothrow();
diff --git a/test/js/bun/shell/test_builder.ts b/test/js/bun/shell/test_builder.ts
index 4cdc53756ad1f8..24377aaaffe90a 100644
--- a/test/js/bun/shell/test_builder.ts
+++ b/test/js/bun/shell/test_builder.ts
@@ -363,6 +363,8 @@ export function createTestBuilder(path: string) {
       }
     }
   }
+
+  return TestBuilder;
 }
 
 function generateRandomString(length: number): string {