diff --git a/.vscode/launch.json b/.vscode/launch.json
index aaf60d06e..31a833827 100644
--- a/.vscode/launch.json
+++ b/.vscode/launch.json
@@ -44,10 +44,8 @@
         "bdd",
         "--colors",
         "--diff",
-        "-r",
-        "ts-node/register",
-        "-r",
-        "test/mocha.setup.js",
+        "--config",
+        ".mocharc.json",
         "test/pure-tests/**/*.ts"
       ],
       "stopOnEntry": false,
diff --git a/extensions/ql-vscode/.mocharc.json b/extensions/ql-vscode/.mocharc.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c5b75cac2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/extensions/ql-vscode/.mocharc.json
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+{
+  "exit": true,
+  "require": [
+    "test/mocha.setup.js"
+  ]
+}
diff --git a/extensions/ql-vscode/package.json b/extensions/ql-vscode/package.json
index b5a0da12e..d0e0e205c 100644
--- a/extensions/ql-vscode/package.json
+++ b/extensions/ql-vscode/package.json
@@ -1248,7 +1248,7 @@
     "watch:extension": "tsc --watch",
     "watch:webpack": "gulp watchView",
     "test": "npm-run-all -p test:*",
-    "test:unit": "mocha --exit -r ts-node/register -r test/mocha.setup.js test/pure-tests/**/*.ts",
+    "test:unit": "mocha --config .mocharc.json test/pure-tests/**/*.ts",
     "test:view": "jest",
     "preintegration": "rm -rf ./out/vscode-tests && gulp",
     "integration": "node ./out/vscode-tests/run-integration-tests.js no-workspace,minimal-workspace",
diff --git a/extensions/ql-vscode/test/mocha.setup.js b/extensions/ql-vscode/test/mocha.setup.js
index e47168552..392e00d79 100644
--- a/extensions/ql-vscode/test/mocha.setup.js
+++ b/extensions/ql-vscode/test/mocha.setup.js
@@ -1,2 +1,8 @@
+const path = require('path');
+
+require('ts-node').register({
+  project: path.resolve(__dirname, 'tsconfig.json')
+})
+
 process.env.TZ = 'UTC';
 process.env.LANG = 'en-US';
diff --git a/extensions/ql-vscode/test/tsconfig.json b/extensions/ql-vscode/test/tsconfig.json
index 70b548578..9e8233e93 100644
--- a/extensions/ql-vscode/test/tsconfig.json
+++ b/extensions/ql-vscode/test/tsconfig.json
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 {
-  "include": [
-    "**/*.ts"
-  ],
+  "extends": "../tsconfig.json",
+  "include": ["**/*.ts"],
+  "exclude": [],
   "compilerOptions": {
-    "noEmit": true
+    "noEmit": true,
+    "resolveJsonModule": true
   }
 }