diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5990b01..df24869 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # borp
 
-Borp is a typescript-aware runner for tests written using `node:test`.
+Borp is a typescript-aware test runner for `node:test`.
 It also support code coverage via [c8](http://npm.im/c8).
 
 Borp is self-hosted, i.e. Borp runs its own tests.
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ Note the use of `incremental: true`, which speed up compilation massively.
 * `--expose-gc`, exposes the gc() function to tests
 * `--pattern` or `-p`, run tests matching the given glob pattern
 * `--reporter` or `-r`, set up a reporter, use a colon to set a file destination. Default: `spec`.
+* `--no-typescript` or `-T`, disable automatic TypeScript compilation if `tsconfig.json` is found.
 
 ## Reporters
 
diff --git a/borp.js b/borp.js
index 65cd868..e525ab6 100755
--- a/borp.js
+++ b/borp.js
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ const args = parseArgs({
     ignore: { type: 'string', short: 'i', multiple: true },
     'expose-gc': { type: 'boolean' },
     help: { type: 'boolean', short: 'h' },
+    'no-typescript': { type: 'boolean', short: 'T' },
     reporter: {
       type: 'string',
       short: 'r',
@@ -78,6 +79,7 @@ if (args.values.coverage) {
 
 const config = {
   ...args.values,
+  typescript: !args.values['no-typescript'],
   files: args.positionals,
   pattern: args.values.pattern,
   cwd: process.cwd()
diff --git a/fixtures/ts-esm2/src/add.ts b/fixtures/ts-esm2/src/add.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..95c44a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fixtures/ts-esm2/src/add.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+
+export function add (x: number, y: number): number {
+  return x + y
+}
diff --git a/fixtures/ts-esm2/test/add.test.ts b/fixtures/ts-esm2/test/add.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2453771
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fixtures/ts-esm2/test/add.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+import { test } from 'node:test'
+import { add } from '../src/add.js'
+import { strictEqual } from 'node:assert'
+
+test('add', () => {
+  strictEqual(add(1, 2), 3)
+})
diff --git a/fixtures/ts-esm2/test/add2.test.ts b/fixtures/ts-esm2/test/add2.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f0f049c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fixtures/ts-esm2/test/add2.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+import { test } from 'node:test'
+import { add } from '../src/add.js'
+import { strictEqual } from 'node:assert'
+
+test('add2', () => {
+  strictEqual(add(3, 2), 5)
+})
diff --git a/fixtures/ts-esm2/tsconfig.json b/fixtures/ts-esm2/tsconfig.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..52f28e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fixtures/ts-esm2/tsconfig.json
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+{
+  "$schema": "https://json.schemastore.org/tsconfig",
+  "compilerOptions": {
+    "outDir": "dist",
+    "sourceMap": true,
+    "target": "ES2022",
+    "module": "NodeNext",
+    "moduleResolution": "NodeNext",
+    "esModuleInterop": true,
+    "strict": true,
+    "resolveJsonModule": true,
+    "removeComments": true,
+    "newLine": "lf",
+    "noUnusedLocals": true,
+    "noFallthroughCasesInSwitch": true,
+    "isolatedModules": true,
+    "forceConsistentCasingInFileNames": true,
+    "skipLibCheck": true,
+    "lib": [
+      "ESNext"
+    ],
+    "incremental": true
+  }
+}
diff --git a/lib/run.js b/lib/run.js
index 2c0720a..e7a9841 100644
--- a/lib/run.js
+++ b/lib/run.js
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ export default async function runWithTypeScript (config) {
   let prefix = ''
   let tscPath
 
-  if (tsconfigPath) {
+  if (tsconfigPath && config.typescript !== false) {
     const _require = createRequire(tsconfigPath)
     const typescriptPathCWD = _require.resolve('typescript')
     tscPath = join(typescriptPathCWD, '..', '..', 'bin', 'tsc')
@@ -56,6 +56,11 @@ export default async function runWithTypeScript (config) {
       prefix = join(dirname(tsconfigPath), outDir)
     }
   }
+
+  // TODO remove those and create a new object
+  delete config.typescript
+  delete config['no-typescript']
+
   config.prefix = prefix
   config.setup = (test) => {
     /* c8 ignore next 12 */
diff --git a/test/basic.test.js b/test/basic.test.js
index 4f32c32..3972300 100644
--- a/test/basic.test.js
+++ b/test/basic.test.js
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ test('ts-cjs', async (t) => {
   await completed
 })
 
-test('ts-esm with named failes', async (t) => {
+test('ts-esm with named files', async (t) => {
   const { strictEqual, completed, match } = tspl(t, { plan: 3 })
   const config = {
     files: ['test/add.test.ts'],
diff --git a/test/cli.test.js b/test/cli.test.js
index 6df5b07..1c5c4a6 100644
--- a/test/cli.test.js
+++ b/test/cli.test.js
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 import { test } from 'node:test'
 import { execa } from 'execa'
 import { join } from 'desm'
-import { rejects } from 'node:assert'
+import { rejects, strictEqual } from 'node:assert'
+import { rm } from 'node:fs/promises'
+import path from 'node:path'
 
 const borp = join(import.meta.url, '..', 'borp.js')
 
@@ -44,3 +46,17 @@ test('failing test with --expose-gc flag sets correct status code', async () =>
     cwd: join(import.meta.url, '..', 'fixtures', 'fails')
   }))
 })
+
+test('disable ts and run no tests', async () => {
+  const cwd = join(import.meta.url, '..', 'fixtures', 'ts-esm2')
+  await rm(path.join(cwd, 'dist'), { recursive: true, force: true })
+  const { stdout } = await execa('node', [
+    borp,
+    '--reporter=spec',
+    '--no-typescript'
+  ], {
+    cwd
+  })
+
+  strictEqual(stdout.indexOf('tests 0') >= 0, true)
+})