diff --git a/test/parallel/test-watch-mode-files_watcher.mjs b/test/parallel/test-watch-mode-files_watcher.mjs
index 4c507d61e00c7f..19f71a04e40df8 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-watch-mode-files_watcher.mjs
+++ b/test/parallel/test-watch-mode-files_watcher.mjs
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@ describe('watch mode file watcher', () => {
        watcher.watchPath(tmpdir.path);
 
        const changed = once(watcher, 'changed');
+       await setTimeout(common.platformTimeout(100)); // avoid throttling
        writeFileSync(file, 'changed');
        await changed;
        assert.strictEqual(changesCount, 1);