diff --git a/docs/README.md b/docs/README.md
index accdabdc..9f0a5e24 100644
--- a/docs/README.md
+++ b/docs/README.md
@@ -64,7 +64,8 @@ tsup automatically excludes packages specified in the `dependencies` and `peerDe
 tsup-node src/index.ts
 ```
 
-All other CLI flags still apply to this command.
+All other CLI flags still apply to this command. You can still use the `noExternal` option to reinclude packages in the bundle,
+for example packages that belong to a local monorepository.
 
 **If the regular `tsup` command doesn't work for you, please submit an issue with a link to your repo so we can make the default command better.**
 
diff --git a/src/esbuild/external.ts b/src/esbuild/external.ts
index 4c574795..12188f34 100644
--- a/src/esbuild/external.ts
+++ b/src/esbuild/external.ts
@@ -28,6 +28,14 @@ export const externalPlugin = ({
           if (match(args.path, resolvePatterns)) {
             return
           }
+          // Respect explicit external/noExternal conditions
+          if (match(args.path, noExternal)) {
+            return
+          }
+          if (match(args.path, external)) {
+            return { external: true }
+          }
+          // Exclude any other import that looks like a Node module
           if (NON_NODE_MODULE_RE.test(args.path)) {
             return {
               path: args.path,
@@ -35,16 +43,17 @@ export const externalPlugin = ({
             }
           }
         })
+      } else {
+        build.onResolve({ filter: /.*/ }, (args) => {
+          // Respect explicit external/noExternal conditions
+          if (match(args.path, noExternal)) {
+            return
+          }
+          if (match(args.path, external)) {
+            return { external: true }
+          }
+        })
       }
-
-      build.onResolve({ filter: /.*/ }, (args) => {
-        if (match(args.path, noExternal)) {
-          return
-        }
-        if (match(args.path, external)) {
-          return { external: true }
-        }
-      })
     },
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/options.ts b/src/options.ts
index 127a7307..e17333d8 100644
--- a/src/options.ts
+++ b/src/options.ts
@@ -116,6 +116,7 @@ export type Options = {
   silent?: boolean
   /**
    * Skip node_modules bundling
+   * Will still bundle modules matching the `noExternal` option
    */
   skipNodeModulesBundle?: boolean
   /**
diff --git a/test/index.test.ts b/test/index.test.ts
index a7faba3b..038ea569 100644
--- a/test/index.test.ts
+++ b/test/index.test.ts
@@ -364,6 +364,30 @@ test('external', async () => {
   expect(output).toMatchSnapshot()
 })
 
+test('noExternal are respected when skipNodeModulesBundle is true', async () => {
+  const { output } = await run(getTestName(), {
+    'input.ts': `export {foo} from 'foo'
+    export {bar} from 'bar'
+    export {baz} from 'baz'
+    `,
+    'node_modules/foo/index.ts': `export const foo = 'foo'`,
+    'node_modules/foo/package.json': `{"name":"foo","version":"0.0.0"}`,
+    'node_modules/bar/index.ts': `export const bar = 'bar'`,
+    'node_modules/bar/package.json': `{"name":"bar","version":"0.0.0"}`,
+    'node_modules/baz/index.ts': `export const baz = 'baz'`,
+    'node_modules/baz/package.json': `{"name":"baz","version":"0.0.0"}`,
+    'tsup.config.ts': `
+    export default {
+      skipNodeModulesBundle: true,
+      noExternal: [/foo/]
+    }
+    `,
+  })
+  expect(output).toContain(`var foo = "foo"`)
+  expect(output).not.toContain(`var bar = "bar"`)
+  expect(output).not.toContain(`var baz = "baz"`)
+})
+
 test('disable code splitting to get proper module.exports =', async () => {
   const { output } = await run(
     getTestName(),