diff --git a/lib/internal/test_runner/harness.js b/lib/internal/test_runner/harness.js
index 7392597409feff..d3a2dd81eb55c0 100644
--- a/lib/internal/test_runner/harness.js
+++ b/lib/internal/test_runner/harness.js
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ function setup(root) {
       cancelled: 0,
       skipped: 0,
       todo: 0,
-      planned: 0,
+      topLevel: 0,
       suites: 0,
     },
   };
diff --git a/lib/internal/test_runner/runner.js b/lib/internal/test_runner/runner.js
index 9be9883ab0adad..36dc9ac9337b4a 100644
--- a/lib/internal/test_runner/runner.js
+++ b/lib/internal/test_runner/runner.js
@@ -5,14 +5,11 @@ const {
   ArrayPrototypeFilter,
   ArrayPrototypeForEach,
   ArrayPrototypeIncludes,
-  ArrayPrototypeIndexOf,
   ArrayPrototypeMap,
   ArrayPrototypePush,
   ArrayPrototypeSlice,
   ArrayPrototypeSome,
   ArrayPrototypeSort,
-  ArrayPrototypeSplice,
-  Number,
   ObjectAssign,
   PromisePrototypeThen,
   SafePromiseAll,
@@ -206,7 +203,7 @@ class FileTest extends Test {
 
         const diagnostics = YAMLToJs(node.diagnostics);
         const cancelled = kCanceledTests.has(diagnostics.error?.failureType);
-        const testNumber = nesting === 0 ? (Number(node.id) + this.testNumber - 1) : node.id;
+        const testNumber = nesting === 0 ? (this.root.harness.counters.topLevel + 1) : node.id;
         const method = pass ? 'ok' : 'fail';
         this.reporter[method](nesting, this.name, testNumber, node.description, diagnostics, directive);
         if (nesting === 0) {
@@ -334,17 +331,7 @@ function runTestFile(path, root, inspectPort, filesWatcher, testNamePatterns) {
       throw err;
     }
   });
-  const promise = subtest.start();
-  if (filesWatcher) {
-    return PromisePrototypeThen(promise, () => {
-      const index = ArrayPrototypeIndexOf(root.subtests, subtest);
-      if (index !== -1) {
-        ArrayPrototypeSplice(root.subtests, index, 1);
-        root.waitingOn--;
-      }
-    });
-  }
-  return promise;
+  return subtest.start();
 }
 
 function watchFiles(testFiles, root, inspectPort, testNamePatterns) {
@@ -360,6 +347,10 @@ function watchFiles(testFiles, root, inspectPort, testNamePatterns) {
         runningProcess.kill();
         await once(runningProcess, 'exit');
       }
+      if (!runningSubtests.size) {
+        // Reset the topLevel counter
+        root.harness.counters.topLevel = 0;
+      }
       await runningSubtests.get(file);
       runningSubtests.set(file, runTestFile(file, root, inspectPort, filesWatcher, testNamePatterns));
     }, undefined, (error) => {
diff --git a/lib/internal/test_runner/test.js b/lib/internal/test_runner/test.js
index b55a79c3cd6a99..cd2dd2c1bc85ea 100644
--- a/lib/internal/test_runner/test.js
+++ b/lib/internal/test_runner/test.js
@@ -637,7 +637,7 @@ class Test extends AsyncResource {
       this.parent.processPendingSubtests();
     } else if (!this.reported) {
       this.reported = true;
-      this.reporter.plan(this.nesting, kFilename, this.root.harness.counters.planned);
+      this.reporter.plan(this.nesting, kFilename, this.root.harness.counters.topLevel);
 
       for (let i = 0; i < this.diagnostics.length; i++) {
         this.reporter.diagnostic(this.nesting, kFilename, this.diagnostics[i]);
diff --git a/lib/internal/test_runner/utils.js b/lib/internal/test_runner/utils.js
index 48987f740e9a8a..9f6ae5889889e0 100644
--- a/lib/internal/test_runner/utils.js
+++ b/lib/internal/test_runner/utils.js
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ function parseCommandLine() {
 
 function countCompletedTest(test, harness = test.root.harness) {
   if (test.nesting === 0) {
-    harness.counters.planned++;
+    harness.counters.topLevel++;
   }
   if (test.reportedType === 'suite') {
     harness.counters.suites++;
diff --git a/test/fixtures/test-runner/output/output_cli.js b/test/fixtures/test-runner/output/output_cli.js
index 3a90d7c1991709..50ef07233314b1 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/test-runner/output/output_cli.js
+++ b/test/fixtures/test-runner/output/output_cli.js
@@ -5,5 +5,5 @@ const fixtures = require('../../../common/fixtures');
 const spawn = require('node:child_process').spawn;
 
 spawn(process.execPath,
-      ['--no-warnings', '--test', '--test-reporter', 'tap', fixtures.path('test-runner/output/output.js')],
+      ['--no-warnings', '--test', '--test-reporter', 'tap', fixtures.path('test-runner/output/output.js'), fixtures.path('test-runner/output/single.js')],
       { stdio: 'inherit' });
diff --git a/test/fixtures/test-runner/output/output_cli.snapshot b/test/fixtures/test-runner/output/output_cli.snapshot
index 5aba59661451a9..a4d54b29cd7778 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/test-runner/output/output_cli.snapshot
+++ b/test/fixtures/test-runner/output/output_cli.snapshot
@@ -672,10 +672,15 @@ not ok 66 - invalid subtest fail
 # Warning: Test "immediate reject - passes but warns" generated asynchronous activity after the test ended. This activity created the error "Error: rejected from immediate reject fail" and would have caused the test to fail, but instead triggered an unhandledRejection event.
 # Warning: Test "callback called twice in different ticks" generated asynchronous activity after the test ended. This activity created the error "Error [ERR_TEST_FAILURE]: callback invoked multiple times" and would have caused the test to fail, but instead triggered an uncaughtException event.
 # Warning: Test "callback async throw after done" generated asynchronous activity after the test ended. This activity created the error "Error: thrown from callback async throw after done" and would have caused the test to fail, but instead triggered an uncaughtException event.
-1..66
-# tests 80
+# Subtest: last test
+ok 67 - last test
+  ---
+  duration_ms: *
+  ...
+1..67
+# tests 81
 # suites 0
-# pass 37
+# pass 38
 # fail 25
 # cancelled 3
 # skipped 10
diff --git a/test/fixtures/test-runner/output/single.js b/test/fixtures/test-runner/output/single.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..e099ec3c375bb7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/test-runner/output/single.js
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+// Flags: --no-warnings
+'use strict';
+const test = require('node:test');
+test('last test', () => {});
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-runner-watch-mode.mjs b/test/parallel/test-runner-watch-mode.mjs
index 1fbc7a7c584e92..e7f17da8e5e142 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-runner-watch-mode.mjs
+++ b/test/parallel/test-runner-watch-mode.mjs
@@ -14,13 +14,14 @@ async function testWatch({ files, fileToUpdate }) {
 
   child.stdout.on('data', (data) => {
     stdout += data.toString();
-    const matches = stdout.match(/test has ran/g);
-    if (matches?.length >= 1) ran1.resolve();
-    if (matches?.length >= 2) ran2.resolve();
+    const testRuns = stdout.match(/ - test has ran/g);
+    if (testRuns?.length >= 1) ran1.resolve();
+    if (testRuns?.length >= 2) ran2.resolve();
   });
 
   await ran1.promise;
-  const interval = setInterval(() => writeFileSync(fileToUpdate, readFileSync(fileToUpdate, 'utf8')), 50);
+  const content = readFileSync(fileToUpdate, 'utf8');
+  const interval = setInterval(() => writeFileSync(fileToUpdate, content), 10);
   await ran2.promise;
   clearInterval(interval);
   child.kill();