diff --git a/build/run-tests.cjs b/build/run-tests.cjs
index afb311fb6..ef610be2e 100755
--- a/build/run-tests.cjs
+++ b/build/run-tests.cjs
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@ async function main() {
     const extensionRootPath = path.resolve(__dirname, '../');
     const extensionDevelopmentPath = path.resolve(extensionRootPath, extension);
     const extensionTestsPath = path.resolve(extensionRootPath, 'out', 'test', tests);
-    const integrationWorkspacePath = path.resolve(extensionRootPath, 'test', 'fixtures', 'components', 'components.code-workspace');
-    const unitTestWorkspacePath = path.resolve(extensionRootPath, 'test', 'fixtures', 'components', 'empty.code-workspace');
+    const integrationWorkspacePath = path.resolve(extensionRootPath, 'out', 'test', 'fixtures', 'components', 'components.code-workspace');
+    const unitTestWorkspacePath = path.resolve(extensionRootPath, 'out', 'test', 'fixtures', 'components', 'empty.code-workspace');
 
     // On some environments, the Mocha reporters do not make amy output to the console when running tests locally if
     // tests are invoked without '--verbose' argument. Set the VERBOSE environment variable to any positive boolean value ('true', or 'yes')
@@ -34,18 +34,27 @@ async function main() {
     const boolPattern = /^(true|1|yes)$/i;
     const verbose = boolPattern.test(process.env.VERBOSE);
 
-    // Point to bootstrap loader
-    process.env.NODE_OPTIONS = `--require ${path.resolve(__dirname, '../test/bootstrap.js')}`;
-
     try {
+        const workspacePath = tests === 'integration' ? integrationWorkspacePath : unitTestWorkspacePath;
+        const launchArgs = [workspacePath, '--disable-workspace-trust'];
+
+        if (verbose) {
+            launchArgs.push('--verbose');
+        }
+
+        // Bootstrap is loaded via NODE_OPTIONS to register ESM-to-CJS module aliases
+        // before the extension activates
+        const bootstrapPath = path.resolve(extensionRootPath, 'out', 'test', 'bootstrap.js');
+
         await etest.runTests({
             extensionDevelopmentPath,
             extensionTestsPath,
-            launchArgs: [
-                tests === 'integration' ? integrationWorkspacePath : unitTestWorkspacePath,
-                '--disable-workspace-trust',
-                verbose ? '--verbose' : ''
-            ],
+            launchArgs,
+            extensionTestsEnv: {
+                ...process.env,
+                NODE_OPTIONS: `-r ${bootstrapPath}`,
+                ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE: undefined  // Unset to prevent workspace file execution
+            }
         });
     } catch (err) {
         // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 73126da53..e2252d081 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -120,6 +120,12 @@
 		"@uiw/codemirror-theme-vscode": "^4.25.10",
 		"@uiw/react-codemirror": "^4.25.10",
 		"@vscode/test-electron": "^3.0.0",
+		"@xterm/addon-fit": "^0.11.0",
+		"@xterm/addon-serialize": "^0.14.0",
+		"@xterm/addon-web-links": "^0.12.0",
+		"@xterm/addon-webgl": "^0.19.0",
+		"@xterm/headless": "^6.0.0",
+		"@xterm/xterm": "^6.0.0",
 		"chai": "^6.2.2",
 		"chokidar": "^5.0.0",
 		"clipboardy": "^5.3.1",
@@ -186,12 +192,6 @@
 		"validator": "^13.15.35",
 		"vscode-extension-tester": "^8.23.0",
 		"vscode-kubernetes-tools-api": "^1.3.0",
-		"@xterm/xterm": "^6.0.0",
-		"@xterm/addon-fit": "^0.11.0",
-		"@xterm/addon-serialize": "^0.14.0",
-		"@xterm/addon-web-links": "^0.12.0",
-		"@xterm/addon-webgl": "^0.19.0",
-		"@xterm/headless": "^6.0.0",
 		"yaml": "^2.9.0"
 	},
 	"overrides": {
diff --git a/test/bootstrap.js b/test/bootstrap.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 00b62fa6c..000000000
--- a/test/bootstrap.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,17 +0,0 @@
-/*-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- *  Copyright (c) Red Hat, Inc. All rights reserved.
- *  Licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE file in the project root for license information.
- *-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
-
-const path = require('path');
-const moduleAlias = require('module-alias');
-
-// --- Force specific modules to load from out/esm
-moduleAlias.addAliases({
-  'clipboardy': path.resolve(__dirname, '../out/esm/clipboardy.cjs'),
-  'got': path.resolve(__dirname, '../out/esm/got.cjs'),
-  '@kubernetes/client-node': path.resolve(__dirname, '../out/esm/k8s-client-node.cjs'),
-});
-
-// --- Register the aliases
-moduleAlias();
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/bootstrap.ts b/test/bootstrap.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2faae245f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/bootstrap.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+/*-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ *  Copyright (c) Red Hat, Inc. All rights reserved.
+ *  Licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE file in the project root for license information.
+ *-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+const path = require('path');
+const Module = require('module');
+
+// Find project root by looking for package.json
+let projectRoot = __dirname;
+while (projectRoot !== path.dirname(projectRoot)) {
+  if (require('fs').existsSync(path.join(projectRoot, 'package.json'))) {
+    const pkg = JSON.parse(require('fs').readFileSync(path.join(projectRoot, 'package.json'), 'utf-8'));
+    if (pkg.name === 'vscode-openshift-connector') {
+      break;
+    }
+  }
+  projectRoot = path.dirname(projectRoot);
+}
+
+// --- ESM module aliases mapping
+// Use absolute paths based on project root
+const aliases = {
+  'clipboardy': path.join(projectRoot, 'out/esm/clipboardy.cjs'),
+  'got': path.join(projectRoot, 'out/esm/got.cjs'),
+  'uuid': path.join(projectRoot, 'out/esm/uuid.cjs'),
+  '@kubernetes/client-node': path.join(projectRoot, 'out/esm/k8s-client-node.cjs'),
+  '@apidevtools/json-schema-ref-parser': path.join(projectRoot, 'out/esm/apidevtools-json-schema-ref-parser.cjs'),
+};
+
+// Custom module resolver to handle both base imports and subpath imports
+// E.g., both '@kubernetes/client-node' and '@kubernetes/client-node/dist/config_types'
+// should resolve to the same bundled .cjs file
+const originalResolveFilename = Module._resolveFilename;
+
+Module._resolveFilename = function(request, parent, isMain, options) {
+  // Check for exact match first
+  if (aliases[request]) {
+    return aliases[request];
+  }
+
+  // Check for subpath imports (e.g., '@kubernetes/client-node/dist/config_types')
+  for (const [pkg, target] of Object.entries(aliases)) {
+    if (request === pkg || request.startsWith(`${pkg}/`)) {
+      // Both the base package and any subpaths resolve to the bundled file
+      return target;
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Not an aliased module, use original resolution
+  return originalResolveFilename.call(this, request, parent, isMain, options);
+};
\ No newline at end of file