diff --git a/packages/typescript/src/index.js b/packages/typescript/src/index.js
index 4631bdedd5..6cc30c8c49 100644
--- a/packages/typescript/src/index.js
+++ b/packages/typescript/src/index.js
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ export async function setup(tsConfigPath) {
     project: tsConfigPath,
     compilerOptions: {
       module: 'commonjs'
-    }
+    },
+    transpileOnly: process.argv[2] === 'start'
   })
 }
diff --git a/packages/typescript/test/setup.test.js b/packages/typescript/test/setup.test.js
index 2f50ed5829..54b0614274 100644
--- a/packages/typescript/test/setup.test.js
+++ b/packages/typescript/test/setup.test.js
@@ -38,7 +38,8 @@ describe('typescript setup', () => {
       project: tsConfigPath,
       compilerOptions: {
         module: 'commonjs'
-      }
+      },
+      transpileOnly: false
     })
   })