diff --git a/.circleci/config/base.yml b/.circleci/config/base.yml
index 185ae9b8e72c..b2cce0fb7934 100644
--- a/.circleci/config/base.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config/base.yml
@@ -452,7 +452,7 @@ step-get-more-space-on-mac: &step-get-more-space-on-mac
       fi
     background: true
 
-# On macOS delete all .git directories under src/ expect for
+# On macOS delete all .git directories under src/ except for
 # third_party/angle/ and third_party/dawn/ because of build time generation of files
 # gen/angle/commit.h depends on third_party/angle/.git/HEAD
 # https://chromium-review.googlesource.com/c/angle/angle/+/2074924
@@ -1492,7 +1492,7 @@ commands:
               export LLVM_SYMBOLIZER_PATH=$PWD/third_party/llvm-build/Release+Asserts/bin/llvm-symbolizer
               export MOCHA_TIMEOUT=180000
               echo "Piping output to ASAN_SYMBOLIZE ($ASAN_SYMBOLIZE)"
-              (cd electron && node script/yarn test --runners=main --trace-uncaught --enable-logging --files $(circleci tests glob spec/*-spec.ts | circleci tests split --split-by=timings)) 2>&1 | $ASAN_SYMBOLIZE
+              (cd electron && (circleci tests glob "spec/*-spec.ts" | circleci tests run --command="xargs node script/yarn test --runners=main --trace-uncaught --enable-logging --files" --split-by=timings 2>&1)) | $ASAN_SYMBOLIZE
             else
               if [ "$TARGET_ARCH" == "arm" ] || [ "$TARGET_ARCH" == "arm64" ]; then
                 export ELECTRON_SKIP_NATIVE_MODULE_TESTS=true
@@ -1501,18 +1501,9 @@ commands:
                 if [ "$TARGET_ARCH" == "ia32" ]; then
                   npm_config_arch=x64 node electron/node_modules/dugite/script/download-git.js
                 fi
-                (cd electron && node script/yarn test --runners=main --trace-uncaught --enable-logging --files $(circleci tests glob spec/*-spec.ts | circleci tests split --split-by=timings))
+                (cd electron && (circleci tests glob "spec/*-spec.ts" | circleci tests run --command="xargs node script/yarn test --runners=main --trace-uncaught --enable-logging --files" --split-by=timings))
               fi
             fi
-      - run:
-          name: Check test results existence
-          command: |
-            cd src
-
-            # Check if test results exist and are not empty.
-            if [ ! -s "junit/test-results-main.xml" ]; then
-              exit 1
-            fi
       - store_test_results:
           path: src/junit
 
diff --git a/spec/index.js b/spec/index.js
index 8e9b2aa155fa..d2b94f2e50cf 100644
--- a/spec/index.js
+++ b/spec/index.js
@@ -107,6 +107,11 @@ app.whenReady().then(async () => {
   if (argv.grep) mocha.grep(argv.grep);
   if (argv.invert) mocha.invert();
 
+  const baseElectronDir = path.resolve(__dirname, '..');
+  const validTestPaths = argv.files && argv.files.map(file =>
+    path.isAbsolute(file)
+      ? path.relative(baseElectronDir, file)
+      : file);
   const filter = (file) => {
     if (!/-spec\.[tj]s$/.test(file)) {
       return false;
@@ -121,8 +126,7 @@ app.whenReady().then(async () => {
       return false;
     }
 
-    const baseElectronDir = path.resolve(__dirname, '..');
-    if (argv.files && !argv.files.includes(path.relative(baseElectronDir, file))) {
+    if (validTestPaths && !validTestPaths.includes(path.relative(baseElectronDir, file))) {
       return false;
     }
 
@@ -135,6 +139,12 @@ app.whenReady().then(async () => {
     mocha.addFile(file);
   });
 
+  if (validTestPaths && validTestPaths.length > 0 && testFiles.length === 0) {
+    console.error('Test files were provided, but they did not match any searched files');
+    console.error('provided file paths (relative to electron/):', validTestPaths);
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+
   const cb = () => {
     // Ensure the callback is called after runner is defined
     process.nextTick(() => {