diff --git a/internal/providers/node_runtime_deps_info.bzl b/internal/providers/node_runtime_deps_info.bzl
index 6a7920ae3f..154117f571 100644
--- a/internal/providers/node_runtime_deps_info.bzl
+++ b/internal/providers/node_runtime_deps_info.bzl
@@ -67,10 +67,10 @@ def run_node(ctx, inputs, arguments, executable, **kwargs):
     exec_exec = getattr(ctx.executable, executable)
 
     outputs = kwargs.pop("outputs", [])
-    extra_inputs = []
+    extra_inputs = depset()
     link_data = []
     if (NodeRuntimeDepsInfo in exec_attr):
-        extra_inputs = exec_attr[NodeRuntimeDepsInfo].deps.to_list()
+        extra_inputs = exec_attr[NodeRuntimeDepsInfo].deps
         link_data = exec_attr[NodeRuntimeDepsInfo].pkgs
 
     mnemonic = kwargs.get("mnemonic")
@@ -114,9 +114,17 @@ def run_node(ctx, inputs, arguments, executable, **kwargs):
                 env[var] = ctx.configuration.default_shell_env[var]
     env["BAZEL_NODE_MODULES_ROOT"] = _compute_node_modules_root(ctx)
 
+    # ctx.actions.run accepts both lists and a depset for inputs. Coerce the original inputs to a
+    # depset if they're a list, so that extra inputs can be combined in a performant manner.
+    inputs_depset = depset(transitive = [
+        depset(direct = inputs) if type(inputs) == "list" else inputs,
+        extra_inputs,
+        depset(direct = [modules_manifest]),
+    ])
+
     ctx.actions.run(
         outputs = outputs,
-        inputs = inputs + extra_inputs + [modules_manifest],
+        inputs = inputs_depset,
         arguments = arguments,
         executable = exec_exec,
         env = env,
diff --git a/internal/providers/test/BUILD.bazel b/internal/providers/test/BUILD.bazel
index 2bfaad61bd..e3322dedab 100644
--- a/internal/providers/test/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/internal/providers/test/BUILD.bazel
@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@ nodejs_binary(
     entry_point = "js-write-file.js",
 )
 
+nodejs_binary(
+    name = "cloner_bin",
+    entry_point = "js-clone-file.js",
+)
+
 js_write_file(
     name = "write_file",
     content = "test file content",
@@ -32,5 +37,7 @@ js_write_file(
     for file in [
         "out",
         "out2",
+        "out3",
+        "out4",
     ]
 ]
diff --git a/internal/providers/test/js-clone-file.js b/internal/providers/test/js-clone-file.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c199d91196
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/providers/test/js-clone-file.js
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+const readFileSync = require('fs').readFileSync;
+const writeFileSync = require('fs').writeFileSync;
+
+const inputPath = process.argv[2];
+const outputPath = process.argv[3];
+
+const content = readFileSync(inputPath, 'utf8');
+
+writeFileSync(outputPath, content, {encoding: 'utf8'});
diff --git a/internal/providers/test/run_node_test.bzl b/internal/providers/test/run_node_test.bzl
index 2c6f0cc8bf..07161cb162 100644
--- a/internal/providers/test/run_node_test.bzl
+++ b/internal/providers/test/run_node_test.bzl
@@ -31,14 +31,53 @@ def _js_write_file_impl(ctx):
         outputs = [ctx.outputs.out2],
     )
 
+    content_txt = ctx.actions.declare_file("content.txt")
+    ctx.actions.write(
+        output = content_txt,
+        content = ctx.attr.content,
+    )
+
+    run_node(
+        ctx = ctx,
+        executable = "_clone",
+        mnemonic = "cloner",
+        # Pass inputs as a list.
+        inputs = [content_txt],
+        arguments = [
+            content_txt.path,
+            ctx.outputs.out3.path,
+        ],
+        outputs = [ctx.outputs.out3],
+    )
+
+    run_node(
+        ctx = ctx,
+        executable = "_clone",
+        mnemonic = "cloner",
+        # Pass inputs as a depset.
+        inputs = depset(direct = [content_txt]),
+        arguments = [
+            content_txt.path,
+            ctx.outputs.out4.path,
+        ],
+        outputs = [ctx.outputs.out4],
+    )
+
 js_write_file = rule(
     implementation = _js_write_file_impl,
     outputs = {
         "out": "out.txt",
         "out2": "out2.txt",
+        "out3": "out3.txt",
+        "out4": "out4.txt",
     },
     attrs = {
         "content": attr.string(),
+        "_clone": attr.label(
+            default = Label("//internal/providers/test:cloner_bin"),
+            cfg = "host",
+            executable = True,
+        ),
         "_writer": attr.label(
             default = Label("//internal/providers/test:writer_bin"),
             cfg = "host",