diff --git a/lib/config.js b/lib/config.js
index 4bcc36d1..789cb5c2 100644
--- a/lib/config.js
+++ b/lib/config.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 const { relative, dirname, join, extname } = require('path')
 const { defaults, defaultsDeep, pick, omit, uniq, isPlainObject } = require('lodash')
+const semver = require('semver')
 const ciVersions = require('./util/ci-versions.js')
 const parseDependabot = require('./util/dependabot.js')
 const git = require('./util/git.js')
@@ -165,6 +166,8 @@ const getFullConfig = async ({
     esm,
     cjsExt: esm ? 'cjs' : 'js',
     deleteJsExt: esm ? 'js' : 'cjs',
+    // tap
+    tap18: semver.coerce(pkg.pkgJson?.devDependencies?.tap)?.major === 18,
     // booleans to control application of updates
     isForce,
     isDogFood,
diff --git a/lib/content/package-json.hbs b/lib/content/package-json.hbs
index 5282f19f..bba7ebdf 100644
--- a/lib/content/package-json.hbs
+++ b/lib/content/package-json.hbs
@@ -34,13 +34,13 @@
     {{#if workspacePaths}}
     "test-ignore": "^({{ join workspacePaths "|" }})/",
     {{/if}}
-    "nyc-arg": [
+    "nyc-arg": {{#if tap18}}{{{ del }}}{{else}}[
       {{#each workspaceGlobs}}
       "--exclude",
       "{{ . }}",
       {{/each}}
       "--exclude",
       "tap-snapshots/**"
-    ]
+    ]{{/if}}
   }
 }
diff --git a/test/apply/tap.js b/test/apply/tap.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2a204877
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/apply/tap.js
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+const t = require('tap')
+const setup = require('../setup.js')
+
+t.test('tap@18', async (t) => {
+  const s = await setup(t, {
+    ok: true,
+    package: {
+      devDependencies: {
+        tap: '^18',
+      },
+    },
+  })
+
+  await s.apply()
+  const pkg = await s.readJson('package.json')
+  t.strictSame(pkg.tap, {})
+})
+
+t.test('tap@16', async (t) => {
+  const s = await setup(t, {
+    ok: true,
+    package: {
+      devDependencies: {
+        tap: '^16',
+      },
+    },
+  })
+
+  await s.apply()
+  const pkg = await s.readJson('package.json')
+  t.strictSame(pkg.tap, {
+    'nyc-arg': [
+      '--exclude',
+      'tap-snapshots/**',
+    ],
+  })
+})