diff --git a/test/fixtures/kill-signal-for-watch.js b/test/fixtures/kill-signal-for-watch.js
index 2beeba099b45ff..fe1e91fb5c3971 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/kill-signal-for-watch.js
+++ b/test/fixtures/kill-signal-for-watch.js
@@ -7,4 +7,7 @@ process.on('SIGINT', () => {
   process.exit();
 });
 process.send(`script ready ${process.pid}`);
-setTimeout(() => {}, 100_000);
+const timeout = 100_000;
+setTimeout(() => {
+  process._rawDebug(`[CHILD] Timeout ${timeout} fired`);
+}, timeout);
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-watch-mode-kill-signal-default.mjs b/test/parallel/test-watch-mode-kill-signal-default.mjs
index 4d6e7bcef8c795..53aec43d22e050 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-watch-mode-kill-signal-default.mjs
+++ b/test/parallel/test-watch-mode-kill-signal-default.mjs
@@ -51,7 +51,12 @@ child.on('message', (msg) => {
     const match = msg.match(/script ready (\d+)/);
     if (match) {
       firstGrandchildPid = match[1];  // This is the first grandchild
-      writeFileSync(indexPath, indexContents);
+      const writeDelay = 1000;  // Delay to reduce the chance of fs events coalescing
+      console.log(`[PARENT] writing to restart ${firstGrandchildPid} after ${writeDelay}ms`);
+      setTimeout(() => {
+        console.log(`[PARENT] writing to ${indexPath} to restart ${firstGrandchildPid}`);
+        writeFileSync(indexPath, indexContents);
+      }, writeDelay);
     }
   }
 });
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-watch-mode-kill-signal-override.mjs b/test/parallel/test-watch-mode-kill-signal-override.mjs
index 37f6b7e20ffc7c..dc3af3f76e848d 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-watch-mode-kill-signal-override.mjs
+++ b/test/parallel/test-watch-mode-kill-signal-override.mjs
@@ -52,7 +52,12 @@ child.on('message', (msg) => {
     const match = msg.match(/script ready (\d+)/);
     if (match) {
       firstGrandchildPid = match[1];  // This is the first grandchild
-      writeFileSync(indexPath, indexContents);
+      const writeDelay = 1000;  // Delay to reduce the chance of fs events coalescing
+      console.log(`[PARENT] writing to restart ${firstGrandchildPid} after ${writeDelay}ms`);
+      setTimeout(() => {
+        console.log(`[PARENT] writing to ${indexPath} to restart ${firstGrandchildPid}`);
+        writeFileSync(indexPath, indexContents);
+      }, writeDelay);
     }
   }
 });