diff --git a/actions/start.action.ts b/actions/start.action.ts
index 4b628ad93..680c2f4d0 100644
--- a/actions/start.action.ts
+++ b/actions/start.action.ts
@@ -72,12 +72,15 @@ export class StartAction extends BuildAction {
         commandOptions,
         defaultConfiguration.sourceRoot,
       );
+      const noShellOption = commandOptions.find((option) => option.name === 'noShell')
+      const useShell = noShellOption ? !noShellOption.value : true;
       const onSuccess = this.createOnSuccessHook(
         entryFile,
         sourceRoot,
         debugFlag,
         outDir,
         binaryToRun,
+        useShell,
       );
 
       await this.runBuild(
@@ -103,6 +106,7 @@ export class StartAction extends BuildAction {
     debugFlag: boolean | string | undefined,
     outDirName: string,
     binaryToRun: string,
+    useShell: boolean,
   ) {
     let childProcessRef: any;
     process.on(
@@ -120,6 +124,7 @@ export class StartAction extends BuildAction {
             debugFlag,
             outDirName,
             binaryToRun,
+            useShell,
           );
           childProcessRef.on('exit', () => (childProcessRef = undefined));
         });
@@ -133,6 +138,7 @@ export class StartAction extends BuildAction {
           debugFlag,
           outDirName,
           binaryToRun,
+          useShell,
         );
         childProcessRef.on('exit', (code: number) => {
           process.exitCode = code;
@@ -148,6 +154,7 @@ export class StartAction extends BuildAction {
     debug: boolean | string | undefined,
     outDirName: string,
     binaryToRun: string,
+    useShell: boolean,
   ) {
     let outputFilePath = join(outDirName, sourceRoot, entryFile);
     if (!fs.existsSync(outputFilePath + '.js')) {
@@ -177,11 +184,11 @@ export class StartAction extends BuildAction {
     }
     const sourceMapsRegisterPath = this.getSourceMapSupportPkg();
     if (sourceMapsRegisterPath !== undefined) {
-      processArgs.unshift(`-r "${sourceMapsRegisterPath}"`);
+      processArgs.unshift('-r', `"${sourceMapsRegisterPath}"`);
     }
     return spawn(binaryToRun, processArgs, {
       stdio: 'inherit',
-      shell: true,
+      shell: useShell,
     });
   }
 
diff --git a/commands/start.command.ts b/commands/start.command.ts
index 361f48fbd..690919339 100644
--- a/commands/start.command.ts
+++ b/commands/start.command.ts
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ export class StartCommand extends AbstractCommand {
         '--preserveWatchOutput',
         'Use "preserveWatchOutput" option when using tsc watch mode.',
       )
+      .option('--noShell', 'Spawn child processes without shell (see node\'s child_process.spawn() method docs)')
       .description('Run Nest application.')
       .action(async (app: string, command: Command) => {
         const options: Input[] = [];
@@ -79,6 +80,10 @@ export class StartCommand extends AbstractCommand {
             !!command.watch &&
             !isWebpackEnabled,
         });
+        options.push({
+          name: 'noShell',
+          value: !!command.noShell,
+        })
 
         const availableBuilders = ['tsc', 'webpack', 'swc'];
         if (command.builder && !availableBuilders.includes(command.builder)) {