diff --git a/dist-raw/node-options.js b/dist-raw/node-options.js
index f27a44689..7a68872ce 100644
--- a/dist-raw/node-options.js
+++ b/dist-raw/node-options.js
@@ -25,7 +25,9 @@ function parseArgv(argv) {
     '--preserve-symlinks': Boolean,
     '--preserve-symlinks-main': Boolean,
     '--input-type': String,
-    '--experimental-specifier-resolution': String
+    '--experimental-specifier-resolution': String,
+    // Legacy alias for node versions prior to 12.16
+    '--es-module-specifier-resolution': '--experimental-specifier-resolution',
   }, {
     argv,
     permissive: true
diff --git a/esm-usage-example/package.json b/esm-usage-example/package.json
index e9974a780..6c23fab66 100644
--- a/esm-usage-example/package.json
+++ b/esm-usage-example/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "type": "module",
   "dependencies": {
-    "ts-node": "github:TypeStrong/ts-node#ab/esm-support",
+    "ts-node": "github:TypeStrong/ts-node#master",
     "typescript": "^3.8.3"
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/index.spec.ts b/src/index.spec.ts
index 10e6aa376..80ea31857 100644
--- a/src/index.spec.ts
+++ b/src/index.spec.ts
@@ -887,6 +887,14 @@ describe('ts-node', function () {
             return done()
           })
         })
+        it('via --es-module-specifier-resolution alias', (done) => {
+          exec(`${cmd} --experimental-modules --es-module-specifier-resolution=node index.ts`, { cwd: join(__dirname, '../tests/esm-node-resolver') }, function (err, stdout) {
+            expect(err).to.equal(null)
+            expect(stdout).to.equal('foo bar baz biff\n')
+
+            return done()
+          })
+        })
         it('via NODE_OPTIONS', (done) => {
           exec(`${cmd} index.ts`, {
             cwd: join(__dirname, '../tests/esm-node-resolver'),