diff --git a/tests/specs/watch.ts b/tests/specs/watch.ts
index 35bd4f7e8..8960a9f45 100644
--- a/tests/specs/watch.ts
+++ b/tests/specs/watch.ts
@@ -323,37 +323,36 @@ export default testSuite(async ({ describe }, { tsx }: NodeApis) => {
 
 				const negativeSignal = 'fail';
 
-				await processInteract(
-					tsxProcess.stdout!,
-					[
-						async (data) => {
-							if (data.includes(negativeSignal)) {
-								throw new Error('should not log ignored file');
-							}
+				await expect(
+					processInteract(
+						tsxProcess.stdout!,
+						[
+							async (data) => {
+								if (data !== 'logA logB logC\n') {
+									return;
+								}
 
-							if (data === 'logA logB logC\n') {
 								// These changes should not trigger a re-run
 								await Promise.all([
 									fixtureGlob.writeFile(fileA, `export default "${negativeSignal}"`),
 									fixtureGlob.writeFile(fileB, `export default "${negativeSignal}"`),
 									fixtureGlob.writeFile(depA, `export default "${negativeSignal}"`),
 								]);
-
-								await setTimeout(1000);
-								fixtureGlob.writeFile(entryFile, 'console.log("TERMINATE")');
 								return true;
-							}
-						},
-						data => data === 'TERMINATE\n',
-					],
-					9000,
-				);
+							},
+							(data) => {
+								if (data.includes(negativeSignal)) {
+									throw new Error('Unexpected re-run');
+								}
+							},
+						],
+						2000,
+					),
+				).rejects.toThrow('Timeout'); // Watch should not trigger
 
 				tsxProcess.kill();
 
-				const p = await tsxProcess;
-				expect(p.all).not.toMatch('fail');
-				expect(p.stderr).toBe('');
+				await tsxProcess;
 			}, 10_000);
 		});
 	});
diff --git a/tests/utils/process-interact.ts b/tests/utils/process-interact.ts
index 84b6d0919..5e570f027 100644
--- a/tests/utils/process-interact.ts
+++ b/tests/utils/process-interact.ts
@@ -2,36 +2,80 @@ import type { Readable } from 'node:stream';
 import { on } from 'node:events';
 import { setTimeout } from 'node:timers/promises';
 
-type MaybePromise<T> = T | Promise<T>;
+type OnTimeoutCallback = () => void;
 
-export const processInteract = async (
-	stdout: Readable,
-	actions: ((data: string) => MaybePromise<boolean | void>)[],
+type Api = {
+	startTime: number;
+	onTimeout: (callback: OnTimeoutCallback) => void;
+};
+
+const enforceTimeout = <ReturnType>(
 	timeout: number,
-) => {
+	function_: (api: Api) => ReturnType,
+): ReturnType => {
 	const startTime = Date.now();
-	const logs: [time: number, string][] = [];
+	let onTimeoutCallback: OnTimeoutCallback;
 
-	let currentAction = actions.shift();
+	const runFunction = function_({
+		startTime,
+		onTimeout: (callback) => {
+			onTimeoutCallback = callback;
+		},
+	});
+
+	if (!(runFunction instanceof Promise)) {
+		return runFunction;
+	}
 
 	const ac = new AbortController();
-	setTimeout(timeout, true, ac).then(
-		() => {
-			if (currentAction) {
-				console.error(`Timeout ${timeout}ms exceeded:`);
-				console.log(logs);
+	const timer = setTimeout(timeout, true, ac).then(
+		async () => {
+			if (onTimeoutCallback) {
+				await onTimeoutCallback();
 			}
+
+			throw new Error('Timeout');
 		},
-		() => {},
+		() => { /* Timeout aborted */ },
 	);
 
+	return Promise.race([
+		runFunction.finally(() => ac.abort()),
+		timer,
+	]) as ReturnType;
+};
+
+type MaybePromise<T> = T | Promise<T>;
+
+export const processInteract = async (
+	stdout: Readable,
+	actions: ((data: string) => MaybePromise<boolean | void>)[],
+	timeout: number,
+) => enforceTimeout(timeout, async ({ startTime, onTimeout }) => {
+	const logs: {
+		time: number;
+		stdout: string;
+	}[] = [];
+
+	let currentAction = actions.shift();
+
+	onTimeout(() => {
+		if (currentAction) {
+			const error = Object.assign(
+				new Error(`Timeout ${timeout}ms exceeded:`),
+				{ logs },
+			);
+			throw error;
+		}
+	});
+
 	while (currentAction) {
 		for await (const [chunk] of on(stdout, 'data')) {
 			const chunkString = chunk.toString();
-			logs.push([
-				Date.now() - startTime,
-				chunkString,
-			]);
+			logs.push({
+				time: Date.now() - startTime,
+				stdout: chunkString,
+			});
 
 			const gotoNextAction = await currentAction(chunkString);
 			if (gotoNextAction) {
@@ -40,5 +84,4 @@ export const processInteract = async (
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	ac.abort();
-};
+});