diff --git a/ext/node/polyfills/_fs/_fs_watch.ts b/ext/node/polyfills/_fs/_fs_watch.ts
index 78903cd553..e94818da9c 100644
--- a/ext/node/polyfills/_fs/_fs_watch.ts
+++ b/ext/node/polyfills/_fs/_fs_watch.ts
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ export function watchFile(
     statWatchers.set(watchPath, stat);
   }
 
-  stat.addListener("change", listener!);
+  stat.addListener("change", handler);
   return stat;
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/unit_node/_fs/_fs_watch_test.ts b/tests/unit_node/_fs/_fs_watch_test.ts
index 01df80f97f..01236a493b 100644
--- a/tests/unit_node/_fs/_fs_watch_test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit_node/_fs/_fs_watch_test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 // Copyright 2018-2024 the Deno authors. All rights reserved. MIT license.
-import { watch } from "node:fs";
+import { unwatchFile, watch, watchFile } from "node:fs";
 import { assertEquals } from "@std/assert/mod.ts";
 
 function wait(time: number) {
@@ -25,3 +25,16 @@ Deno.test({
     assertEquals(result.length >= 1, true);
   },
 });
+
+Deno.test({
+  name: "watching a file with options",
+  async fn() {
+    const file = Deno.makeTempFileSync();
+    watchFile(
+      file,
+      () => {},
+    );
+    await wait(100);
+    unwatchFile(file);
+  },
+});