diff --git a/lib/internal/main/watch_mode.js b/lib/internal/main/watch_mode.js
index 8b3133bb8ecc07..4fae6363226310 100644
--- a/lib/internal/main/watch_mode.js
+++ b/lib/internal/main/watch_mode.js
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ const args = ArrayPrototypeFilter(process.execArgv, (arg, i, arr) =>
   arg !== '--watch' && arg !== '--watch-preserve-output');
 ArrayPrototypePushApply(args, kCommand);
 
-const watcher = new FilesWatcher({ debounce: 500, mode: kShouldFilterModules ? 'filter' : 'all' });
+const watcher = new FilesWatcher({ debounce: 200, mode: kShouldFilterModules ? 'filter' : 'all' });
 ArrayPrototypeForEach(kWatchedPaths, (p) => watcher.watchPath(p));
 
 let graceTimer;
diff --git a/lib/internal/test_runner/runner.js b/lib/internal/test_runner/runner.js
index ceec87e0b09d52..e65da84a4c4422 100644
--- a/lib/internal/test_runner/runner.js
+++ b/lib/internal/test_runner/runner.js
@@ -384,7 +384,7 @@ function runTestFile(path, root, inspectPort, filesWatcher, testNamePatterns) {
 function watchFiles(testFiles, root, inspectPort, signal, testNamePatterns) {
   const runningProcesses = new SafeMap();
   const runningSubtests = new SafeMap();
-  const watcher = new FilesWatcher({ debounce: 500, mode: 'filter', signal });
+  const watcher = new FilesWatcher({ debounce: 200, mode: 'filter', signal });
   const filesWatcher = { __proto__: null, watcher, runningProcesses, runningSubtests };
 
   watcher.on('changed', ({ owners }) => {
diff --git a/lib/internal/watch_mode/files_watcher.js b/lib/internal/watch_mode/files_watcher.js
index 6a1052ab0188e6..b38f94d7cc8051 100644
--- a/lib/internal/watch_mode/files_watcher.js
+++ b/lib/internal/watch_mode/files_watcher.js
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ class FilesWatcher extends EventEmitter {
   #mode;
   #signal;
 
-  constructor({ debounce = 500, mode = 'filter', signal } = kEmptyObject) {
+  constructor({ debounce = 200, mode = 'filter', signal } = kEmptyObject) {
     super();
 
     validateNumber(debounce, 'options.debounce', 0, TIMEOUT_MAX);