diff --git a/js/private/js_binary.sh.tpl b/js/private/js_binary.sh.tpl
index ad99a00047..5d0234cb5c 100644
--- a/js/private/js_binary.sh.tpl
+++ b/js/private/js_binary.sh.tpl
@@ -328,7 +328,10 @@ fi
 # Change directory to user specified package if set
 if [ "${JS_BINARY__CHDIR:-}" ]; then
     logf_debug "changing directory to user specified package %s" "$JS_BINARY__CHDIR"
-    cd "$JS_BINARY__EXECROOT/${BAZEL_BINDIR:-$JS_BINARY__BINDIR}/$JS_BINARY__CHDIR"
+    case "$JS_BINARY__CHDIR" in
+    external/*) cd "$(resolve_execroot_bin_path "$JS_BINARY__CHDIR")" ;;
+    *) cd "$JS_BINARY__CHDIR" ;;
+    esac
 fi
 
 # Gather node options
diff --git a/js/private/test/data/BUILD.bazel b/js/private/test/data/BUILD.bazel
index 814afb8ed9..9c49407b0d 100644
--- a/js/private/test/data/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/js/private/test/data/BUILD.bazel
@@ -88,6 +88,42 @@ js_test(
     entry_point = "test.js",
 )
 
+# TEST: js_test(data = source file, chdir = package_name())
+# This test and the following one verify that with `chdir = package_name()` we
+# are changing to the correct directory, by making sure data.json is present in
+# the working directory.
+js_test(
+    name = "chdir-source-data",
+    args = ["data.json"],
+    chdir = package_name(),
+    data = [":data.json"],
+    entry_point = "open_arg.mjs",
+)
+
+js_test(
+    name = "chdir-source-data-relative",
+    args = ["./data.json"],
+    chdir = package_name(),
+    data = [":data.json"],
+    entry_point = "open_arg.mjs",
+)
+
+# TEST: js_test(data = source file, chdir = None) with rootpath
+js_test(
+    name = "source-data-rootpath",
+    args = ["$(rootpath :data.json)"],
+    data = [":data.json"],
+    entry_point = "open_arg.mjs",
+)
+
+# TEST: js_test(data = source file, chdir = None) with execpath
+js_test(
+    name = "source-data-execpath",
+    args = ["$(execpath :data.json)"],
+    data = [":data.json"],
+    entry_point = "open_arg.mjs",
+)
+
 # TEST: js_test(data = genrule()) -------------------------
 js_test(
     name = "from-genrule",
diff --git a/js/private/test/data/open_arg.mjs b/js/private/test/data/open_arg.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6b086ffdd5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/js/private/test/data/open_arg.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+import { readFileSync } from 'fs';
+readFileSync(process.argv[2]);
diff --git a/js/private/test/snapshots/launcher.sh b/js/private/test/snapshots/launcher.sh
index 7fdf331a76..ed10a9739e 100644
--- a/js/private/test/snapshots/launcher.sh
+++ b/js/private/test/snapshots/launcher.sh
@@ -448,7 +448,10 @@ fi
 # Change directory to user specified package if set
 if [ "${JS_BINARY__CHDIR:-}" ]; then
     logf_debug "changing directory to user specified package %s" "$JS_BINARY__CHDIR"
-    cd "$JS_BINARY__EXECROOT/${BAZEL_BINDIR:-$JS_BINARY__BINDIR}/$JS_BINARY__CHDIR"
+    case "$JS_BINARY__CHDIR" in
+    external/*) cd "$(resolve_execroot_bin_path "$JS_BINARY__CHDIR")" ;;
+    *) cd "$JS_BINARY__CHDIR" ;;
+    esac
 fi
 
 # Gather node options