diff --git a/docs/shared/reference/environment-variables.md b/docs/shared/reference/environment-variables.md
index 91f050cf42bdd..2bac4696d7ede 100644
--- a/docs/shared/reference/environment-variables.md
+++ b/docs/shared/reference/environment-variables.md
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ The following environment variables are ones that you can set to change the beha
 | NX_DRY_RUN                       | boolean | If set to `true`, will perform a dry run of the generator. No files will be created and no packages will be installed.                                                                                                       |
 | NX_INTERACTIVE                   | boolean | If set to `true`, will allow Nx to prompt you in the terminal to answer some further questions when running generators.                                                                                                      |
 | NX_GENERATE_QUIET                | boolean | If set to `true`, will prevent Nx logging file operations during generate                                                                                                                                                    |
+| NX_PREFER_TS_NODE                | boolean | If set to `true`, Nx will use ts-node for local execution of plugins even if `@swc-node/register` is installed.                                                                                                              |
 
 Nx will set the following environment variables so they can be accessible within the process even outside of executors and generators
 
diff --git a/packages/nx/src/utils/register.ts b/packages/nx/src/utils/register.ts
index de87ed3f8ce3b..b0b39089f50f2 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/utils/register.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/utils/register.ts
@@ -49,14 +49,16 @@ export function registerTranspiler(
   // Function to register transpiler that returns cleanup function
   let registerTranspiler: () => () => void;
 
-  if (swcNodeInstalled) {
+  const preferTsNode = process.env.NX_PREFER_TS_NODE === 'true';
+
+  if (swcNodeInstalled && !preferTsNode) {
     // These are requires to prevent it from registering when it shouldn't
     const { register } =
       require('@swc-node/register/register') as typeof import('@swc-node/register/register');
 
     registerTranspiler = () => register(compilerOptions);
   } else {
-    // We can fall back on ts-node if its available
+    // We can fall back on ts-node if it's available
 
     if (tsNodeInstalled) {
       const { register } = require('ts-node') as typeof import('ts-node');