diff --git a/packages/bun-vscode/src/features/tests/__tests__/bun-test-controller.test.ts b/packages/bun-vscode/src/features/tests/__tests__/bun-test-controller.test.ts
index 17aeaf6720..92654c67d2 100644
--- a/packages/bun-vscode/src/features/tests/__tests__/bun-test-controller.test.ts
+++ b/packages/bun-vscode/src/features/tests/__tests__/bun-test-controller.test.ts
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ describe("BunTestController", () => {
       const pattern = internal.buildTestNamePattern(mockTests);
 
       expect(pattern).toContain(".*?");
-      expect(pattern).toBe("(^ test with .*?$)|(^ test with \\.*?$)");
+      expect(pattern).toBe("(^ ?test with .*?$)|(^ ?test with \\.*?$)");
     });
 
     test("should escape % formatters", () => {
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ describe("BunTestController", () => {
 
       const pattern = internal.buildTestNamePattern(mockTests);
 
-      expect(pattern).toBe("(^ test with .*?$)|(^ test with .*?$)");
+      expect(pattern).toBe("(^ ?test with .*?$)|(^ ?test with .*?$)");
     });
 
     test("should join multiple patterns with |", () => {
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ describe("BunTestController", () => {
 
       const pattern = internal.buildTestNamePattern(mockTests);
 
-      expect(pattern).toBe("(^ test 1$)|(^ test 2$)|(^ test 3$)");
+      expect(pattern).toBe("(^ ?test 1$)|(^ ?test 2$)|(^ ?test 3$)");
     });
 
     test("should handle describe blocks differently", () => {
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ describe("BunTestController", () => {
 
       const pattern = internal.buildTestNamePattern(mockTests);
 
-      expect(pattern).toBe("(^ describe block )");
+      expect(pattern).toBe("(^ ?describe block )");
     });
 
     test("should handle complex nested test names", () => {
diff --git a/packages/bun-vscode/src/features/tests/bun-test-controller.ts b/packages/bun-vscode/src/features/tests/bun-test-controller.ts
index bbe9cd2cc4..d822d88141 100644
--- a/packages/bun-vscode/src/features/tests/bun-test-controller.ts
+++ b/packages/bun-vscode/src/features/tests/bun-test-controller.ts
@@ -1339,9 +1339,9 @@ export class BunTestController implements vscode.Disposable {
       t = t.replaceAll(/\$[\w\.\[\]]+/g, ".*?");
 
       if (test?.tags?.some(tag => tag.id === "test" || tag.id === "it")) {
-        testNames.push(`^ ${t}$`);
+        testNames.push(`^ ?${t}$`);
       } else if (test?.tags?.some(tag => tag.id === "describe")) {
-        testNames.push(`^ ${t} `);
+        testNames.push(`^ ?${t} `);
       } else {
         testNames.push(t);
       }