diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ea832f3ebb3b..e15bad622f72 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 ### Fixes
 
 - `[expect]` Remove `@types/node` from dependencies ([#14385](https://github.com/jestjs/jest/pull/14385))
+- `[jest-core]` Use workers in watch mode by default to avoid crashes ([#14059](https://github.com/facebook/jest/pull/14059) & [#14085](https://github.com/facebook/jest/pull/14085)).
 - `[jest-reporters]` Update `istanbul-lib-instrument` dependency to v6. ([#14401](https://github.com/jestjs/jest/pull/14401))
 
 ### Chore & Maintenance
diff --git a/packages/jest-config/src/index.ts b/packages/jest-config/src/index.ts
index ecdab9a89591..43093fd91f92 100644
--- a/packages/jest-config/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/jest-config/src/index.ts
@@ -121,6 +121,7 @@ const groupOptions = (
     replname: options.replname,
     reporters: options.reporters,
     rootDir: options.rootDir,
+    runInBand: options.runInBand,
     runTestsByPath: options.runTestsByPath,
     seed: options.seed,
     shard: options.shard,
diff --git a/packages/jest-core/src/__tests__/testSchedulerHelper.test.js b/packages/jest-core/src/__tests__/testSchedulerHelper.test.js
index d4fbc2756750..945add3f9497 100644
--- a/packages/jest-core/src/__tests__/testSchedulerHelper.test.js
+++ b/packages/jest-core/src/__tests__/testSchedulerHelper.test.js
@@ -23,25 +23,26 @@ const getTestMock = () => ({
 const getTestsMock = () => [getTestMock(), getTestMock()];
 
 test.each`
-  tests              | timings        | detectOpenHandles | maxWorkers   | watch    | workerIdleMemoryLimit | expectedResult
-  ${[getTestMock()]} | ${[500, 500]}  | ${false}          | ${undefined} | ${true}  | ${undefined}          | ${false}
-  ${getTestsMock()}  | ${[2000, 500]} | ${false}          | ${1}         | ${true}  | ${undefined}          | ${false}
-  ${getTestsMock()}  | ${[2000, 500]} | ${false}          | ${2}         | ${true}  | ${undefined}          | ${false}
-  ${[getTestMock()]} | ${[2000, 500]} | ${false}          | ${undefined} | ${true}  | ${undefined}          | ${false}
-  ${getTestMock()}   | ${[500, 500]}  | ${false}          | ${undefined} | ${true}  | ${undefined}          | ${false}
-  ${getTestsMock()}  | ${[2000, 500]} | ${false}          | ${1}         | ${false} | ${undefined}          | ${true}
-  ${getTestMock()}   | ${[2000, 500]} | ${false}          | ${2}         | ${false} | ${undefined}          | ${false}
-  ${[getTestMock()]} | ${[2000]}      | ${false}          | ${undefined} | ${false} | ${undefined}          | ${true}
-  ${getTestsMock()}  | ${[500, 500]}  | ${false}          | ${undefined} | ${false} | ${undefined}          | ${true}
-  ${new Array(45)}   | ${[500]}       | ${false}          | ${undefined} | ${false} | ${undefined}          | ${false}
-  ${getTestsMock()}  | ${[2000, 500]} | ${false}          | ${undefined} | ${false} | ${undefined}          | ${false}
-  ${getTestsMock()}  | ${[2000, 500]} | ${true}           | ${undefined} | ${false} | ${undefined}          | ${true}
-  ${[getTestMock()]} | ${[500, 500]}  | ${false}          | ${undefined} | ${true}  | ${'500MB'}            | ${false}
-  ${getTestsMock()}  | ${[2000, 500]} | ${false}          | ${1}         | ${true}  | ${'500MB'}            | ${false}
-  ${getTestsMock()}  | ${[2000, 500]} | ${false}          | ${1}         | ${false} | ${'500MB'}            | ${false}
-  ${[getTestMock()]} | ${[2000]}      | ${false}          | ${undefined} | ${false} | ${'500MB'}            | ${false}
-  ${getTestsMock()}  | ${[500, 500]}  | ${false}          | ${undefined} | ${false} | ${'500MB'}            | ${false}
-  ${getTestsMock()}  | ${[2000, 500]} | ${true}           | ${undefined} | ${false} | ${'500MB'}            | ${true}
+  tests              | timings        | detectOpenHandles | runInBand | maxWorkers   | watch    | workerIdleMemoryLimit | expectedResult
+  ${[getTestMock()]} | ${[500, 500]}  | ${false}          | ${false}  | ${undefined} | ${true}  | ${undefined}          | ${false}
+  ${getTestsMock()}  | ${[2000, 500]} | ${false}          | ${false}  | ${1}         | ${true}  | ${undefined}          | ${false}
+  ${getTestsMock()}  | ${[2000, 500]} | ${false}          | ${false}  | ${2}         | ${true}  | ${undefined}          | ${false}
+  ${getTestsMock()}  | ${[2000, 500]} | ${false}          | ${true}   | ${1}         | ${true}  | ${undefined}          | ${true}
+  ${[getTestMock()]} | ${[2000, 500]} | ${false}          | ${false}  | ${undefined} | ${true}  | ${undefined}          | ${false}
+  ${getTestMock()}   | ${[500, 500]}  | ${false}          | ${false}  | ${undefined} | ${true}  | ${undefined}          | ${false}
+  ${getTestsMock()}  | ${[2000, 500]} | ${false}          | ${false}  | ${1}         | ${false} | ${undefined}          | ${true}
+  ${getTestMock()}   | ${[2000, 500]} | ${false}          | ${false}  | ${2}         | ${false} | ${undefined}          | ${false}
+  ${[getTestMock()]} | ${[2000]}      | ${false}          | ${false}  | ${undefined} | ${false} | ${undefined}          | ${true}
+  ${getTestsMock()}  | ${[500, 500]}  | ${false}          | ${false}  | ${undefined} | ${false} | ${undefined}          | ${true}
+  ${new Array(45)}   | ${[500]}       | ${false}          | ${false}  | ${undefined} | ${false} | ${undefined}          | ${false}
+  ${getTestsMock()}  | ${[2000, 500]} | ${false}          | ${false}  | ${undefined} | ${false} | ${undefined}          | ${false}
+  ${getTestsMock()}  | ${[2000, 500]} | ${true}           | ${false}  | ${undefined} | ${false} | ${undefined}          | ${true}
+  ${[getTestMock()]} | ${[500, 500]}  | ${false}          | ${false}  | ${undefined} | ${true}  | ${'500MB'}            | ${false}
+  ${getTestsMock()}  | ${[2000, 500]} | ${false}          | ${false}  | ${1}         | ${true}  | ${'500MB'}            | ${false}
+  ${getTestsMock()}  | ${[2000, 500]} | ${false}          | ${false}  | ${1}         | ${false} | ${'500MB'}            | ${false}
+  ${[getTestMock()]} | ${[2000]}      | ${false}          | ${false}  | ${undefined} | ${false} | ${'500MB'}            | ${false}
+  ${getTestsMock()}  | ${[500, 500]}  | ${false}          | ${false}  | ${undefined} | ${false} | ${'500MB'}            | ${false}
+  ${getTestsMock()}  | ${[2000, 500]} | ${true}           | ${false}  | ${undefined} | ${false} | ${'500MB'}            | ${true}
 `(
   'shouldRunInBand() - should return $expectedResult for runInBand mode',
   ({
@@ -49,6 +50,7 @@ test.each`
     timings,
     detectOpenHandles,
     maxWorkers,
+    runInBand,
     watch,
     workerIdleMemoryLimit,
     expectedResult,
@@ -57,6 +59,7 @@ test.each`
       shouldRunInBand(tests, timings, {
         detectOpenHandles,
         maxWorkers,
+        runInBand,
         watch,
         workerIdleMemoryLimit,
       }),
diff --git a/packages/jest-core/src/lib/__tests__/__snapshots__/logDebugMessages.test.ts.snap b/packages/jest-core/src/lib/__tests__/__snapshots__/logDebugMessages.test.ts.snap
index 7e9a1b8f96fc..1f288c9a76d1 100644
--- a/packages/jest-core/src/lib/__tests__/__snapshots__/logDebugMessages.test.ts.snap
+++ b/packages/jest-core/src/lib/__tests__/__snapshots__/logDebugMessages.test.ts.snap
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ exports[`prints the config object 1`] = `
     "projects": [],
     "reporters": [],
     "rootDir": "/test_root_dir/",
+    "runInBand": false,
     "runTestsByPath": false,
     "seed": 1234,
     "silent": false,
diff --git a/packages/jest-core/src/testSchedulerHelper.ts b/packages/jest-core/src/testSchedulerHelper.ts
index 79c7a056ee95..121025f3746c 100644
--- a/packages/jest-core/src/testSchedulerHelper.ts
+++ b/packages/jest-core/src/testSchedulerHelper.ts
@@ -16,13 +16,15 @@ export function shouldRunInBand(
   {
     detectOpenHandles,
     maxWorkers,
+    runInBand,
     watch,
     watchAll,
     workerIdleMemoryLimit,
   }: Config.GlobalConfig,
 ): boolean {
+  // If user asked for run in band, respect that.
   // detectOpenHandles makes no sense without runInBand, because it cannot detect leaks in workers
-  if (detectOpenHandles) {
+  if (runInBand || detectOpenHandles) {
     return true;
   }
 
@@ -39,9 +41,6 @@ export function shouldRunInBand(
    * Otherwise, run in band if we only have one test or one worker available.
    * Also, if we are confident from previous runs that the tests will finish
    * quickly we also run in band to reduce the overhead of spawning workers.
-   * Finally, the user can provide the runInBand argument in the CLI to
-   * force running in band, which sets maxWorkers to 1 here:
-   * https://github.com/jestjs/jest/blob/d106643a8ee0ffa9c2f11c6bb2d12094e99135aa/packages/jest-config/src/getMaxWorkers.ts#L27-L28
    */
   const areFastTests = timings.every(timing => timing < SLOW_TEST_TIME);
   const oneWorkerOrLess = maxWorkers <= 1;
diff --git a/packages/jest-types/src/Config.ts b/packages/jest-types/src/Config.ts
index 024896fb8a0b..307dee61f30a 100644
--- a/packages/jest-types/src/Config.ts
+++ b/packages/jest-types/src/Config.ts
@@ -400,6 +400,7 @@ export type GlobalConfig = {
   randomize?: boolean;
   replname?: string;
   reporters?: Array<ReporterConfig>;
+  runInBand: boolean;
   runTestsByPath: boolean;
   rootDir: string;
   seed: number;
diff --git a/packages/test-utils/src/config.ts b/packages/test-utils/src/config.ts
index 61b6ded274b2..b427dcc9e3fb 100644
--- a/packages/test-utils/src/config.ts
+++ b/packages/test-utils/src/config.ts
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ const DEFAULT_GLOBAL_CONFIG: Config.GlobalConfig = {
   replname: undefined,
   reporters: [],
   rootDir: '/test_root_dir/',
+  runInBand: false,
   runTestsByPath: false,
   seed: 1234,
   silent: false,