diff --git a/Readme.md b/Readme.md
index a44dee5..f45ce18 100644
--- a/Readme.md
+++ b/Readme.md
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ wds --inspect some-test.test.ts
 
 - Builds and runs TypeScript really fast (using [`swc`](https://github.com/swc-project/swc) or [`esbuild`](https://github.com/evanw/esbuild))
 - Incrementally rebuilds only what has changed in the `--watch` mode, and restarts the process when files change
-- Supervises the node.js process with `--supervise` to keep incremental context around on process crash, and can restart on demand in the `--commands` mode
+- Execute commands on demand with the `--commands` mode
 - Plays nice with node.js command line flags like `--inspect` or `--prof`
 - Produces sourcemaps which Just Work™️ by default for debugging with many editors (VSCode, IntelliJ, etc)
 - Monorepo aware, allowing for different configuration per package and only compiling what is actually required from the monorepo context
diff --git a/src/Options.ts b/src/Options.ts
index d1b0dd5..75be193 100644
--- a/src/Options.ts
+++ b/src/Options.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ export interface RunOptions {
   argv: string[];
   terminalCommands: boolean;
   reloadOnChanges: boolean;
-  supervise: boolean;
   useEsbuild: boolean;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/Supervisor.ts b/src/Supervisor.ts
index ae08256..cdb7af7 100644
--- a/src/Supervisor.ts
+++ b/src/Supervisor.ts
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ export class Supervisor extends EventEmitter {
 
     this.process.on("message", (value) => this.emit("message", value));
     this.process.on("exit", (code, signal) => {
-      if (signal !== "SIGKILL" && this.options.supervise) {
+      if (signal !== "SIGKILL") {
         log.warn(`process exited with ${code}`);
       }
     });
diff --git a/src/bench/bench.ts b/src/bench/bench.ts
index 7f58abb..84bb3b4 100644
--- a/src/bench/bench.ts
+++ b/src/bench/bench.ts
@@ -36,11 +36,10 @@ function monitorLogs(childProcess: ChildProcess): Promise<ChildProcessResult> {
   });
 }
 
-function spawnOnce(args: { supervise?: boolean; filename: string; esbuild: boolean }): ChildProcess {
+function spawnOnce(args: { watch?: boolean; filename: string; esbuild: boolean }): ChildProcess {
   const extraArgs = [];
 
-  if (args.supervise) {
-    extraArgs.push("--supervise");
+  if (args.watch) {
     extraArgs.push("--watch");
   }
 
@@ -158,7 +157,7 @@ export async function benchReload(args: BenchArgs): Promise<void> {
 
   process.stdout.write(`Starting reload benchmark (pid=${process.pid})\n`);
 
-  const childProcess = spawnOnce({ supervise: true, filename: filepath, esbuild: args.esbuild });
+  const childProcess = spawnOnce({ watch: true, filename: filepath, esbuild: args.esbuild });
   const _ignoreInitialBoot = await monitorLogs(childProcess);
 
   for (let i = 0; i < args.runs; i++) {
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 270c591..be52c00 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -33,12 +33,6 @@ export const cli = async () => {
       description: "Trigger restarts by watching for changes to required files",
       default: true,
     })
-    .option("supervise", {
-      alias: "s",
-      type: "boolean",
-      description: "Supervise and restart the process when it exits indefinitely",
-      default: false,
-    })
     .option("esbuild", {
       type: "boolean",
       description: "Use esbuild instead of sec",
@@ -49,7 +43,6 @@ export const cli = async () => {
     argv: args._ as any,
     terminalCommands: args.commands,
     reloadOnChanges: args.watch,
-    supervise: args.supervise,
     useEsbuild: args.esbuild,
   });
 };
@@ -157,7 +150,7 @@ export const wds = async (options: RunOptions) => {
   await startIPCServer(serverSocketPath, project);
 
   // kickoff the first child process
-  options.supervise && log.info(`Supervision starting for command: node ${options.argv.join(" ")}`);
+  options.reloadOnChanges && log.info(`Supervision starting for command: node ${options.argv.join(" ")}`);
   await project.invalidateBuildSetAndReload();
 
   process.on("SIGINT", () => {
@@ -170,9 +163,14 @@ export const wds = async (options: RunOptions) => {
   });
 
   project.supervisor.process.on("exit", (code) => {
-    log.debug(`child process exited with code ${code}, ${options.supervise ? "not exiting because supervise mode" : "exiting..."}`);
-    if (!options.supervise) {
-      project.shutdown(code ?? 1);
+    const logShutdown = (explanation: string) => {
+      log.debug(`child process exited with code ${code}, ${explanation}`);
+    };
+    if (options.reloadOnChanges) {
+      logShutdown("not exiting because we're on 'watch' mode");
+      return;
     }
+    logShutdown("shutting down project since it's no longer needed...");
+    project.shutdown(code ?? 1);
   });
 };
diff --git a/test/reload/test.sh b/test/reload/test.sh
index 6b7590e..c45adf7 100755
--- a/test/reload/test.sh
+++ b/test/reload/test.sh
@@ -9,12 +9,12 @@ trap "kill -9 0" INT TERM
 trap 'kill $(jobs -p)' EXIT
 
 # run a server in the background
-$DIR/../../pkg/wds.bin.js $@ --supervise --commands $DIR/run-scratch.ts &
+$DIR/../../pkg/wds.bin.js $@ --commands $DIR/run-scratch.ts &
 
 max_retry=5
 counter=0
 
-set +e 
+set +e
 until curl -s localhost:8080 | grep "World"
 do
    sleep 1
@@ -39,4 +39,4 @@ done
 
 echo "Made new request to reloaded server"
 
-exit 0
\ No newline at end of file
+exit 0