diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b5b4161d52..b4b570dad4 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -15,8 +15,11 @@ For experimental package changes, see the [experimental CHANGELOG](experimental/
 
 ### :house: (Internal)
 
+* chore: type reference on zone.js [#4257](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js/pull/4257) @legendecas
 * chore: no need for 'packages' in lerna.json [#4264](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-js/pull/4264) @trentm
 
+### :bug: (Bug Fix)
+
 ## 1.18.1
 
 ### :bug: (Bug Fix)
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-context-zone-peer-dep/src/ZoneContextManager.ts b/packages/opentelemetry-context-zone-peer-dep/src/ZoneContextManager.ts
index 3f5c8c71c8..81042ac652 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-context-zone-peer-dep/src/ZoneContextManager.ts
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-context-zone-peer-dep/src/ZoneContextManager.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
+/// <reference types="zone.js" />
 import { Context, ContextManager, ROOT_CONTEXT } from '@opentelemetry/api';
 import { TargetWithEvents } from './types';
 import { isListenerObject } from './util';
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-context-zone-peer-dep/tsconfig.esm.json b/packages/opentelemetry-context-zone-peer-dep/tsconfig.esm.json
index 971caf60aa..9d9e733405 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-context-zone-peer-dep/tsconfig.esm.json
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-context-zone-peer-dep/tsconfig.esm.json
@@ -5,9 +5,6 @@
     "rootDir": "src",
     "tsBuildInfoFile": "build/esm/tsconfig.esm.tsbuildinfo"
   },
-  "files": [
-    "node_modules/zone.js/dist/zone.js.d.ts"
-  ],
   "include": [
     "src/**/*.ts"
   ],
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-context-zone-peer-dep/tsconfig.esnext.json b/packages/opentelemetry-context-zone-peer-dep/tsconfig.esnext.json
index ff768ce18a..9f2935984e 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-context-zone-peer-dep/tsconfig.esnext.json
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-context-zone-peer-dep/tsconfig.esnext.json
@@ -5,9 +5,6 @@
     "rootDir": "src",
     "tsBuildInfoFile": "build/esnext/tsconfig.esnext.tsbuildinfo"
   },
-  "files": [
-    "node_modules/zone.js/dist/zone.js.d.ts"
-  ],
   "include": [
     "src/**/*.ts"
   ],
diff --git a/packages/opentelemetry-context-zone-peer-dep/tsconfig.json b/packages/opentelemetry-context-zone-peer-dep/tsconfig.json
index a4adfa3f7f..7e466ec926 100644
--- a/packages/opentelemetry-context-zone-peer-dep/tsconfig.json
+++ b/packages/opentelemetry-context-zone-peer-dep/tsconfig.json
@@ -4,9 +4,6 @@
     "outDir": "build",
     "rootDir": "."
   },
-  "files": [
-    "node_modules/zone.js/dist/zone.js.d.ts"
-  ],
   "include": [
     "src/**/*.ts",
     "test/**/*.ts"