diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index 8c9a261d..fed18534 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@ Outputs the Node.js compact build of `input.js` into `dist/index.js`.
   -m, --minify             Minify output
   -C, --no-cache           Skip build cache population
   -s, --source-map         Generate source map
+  -a, --asset-builds       Build nested JS assets recursively, useful for
+                           when code is loaded as an asset eg for workers.
   --no-source-map-register Skip source-map-register source map support
   -e, --external [mod]     Skip bundling 'mod'. Can be used many times
   -q, --quiet              Disable build summaries / non-error outputs
@@ -115,6 +117,7 @@ require('@vercel/ncc')('/path/to/input', {
   filterAssetBase: process.cwd(), // default
   minify: false, // default
   sourceMap: false, // default
+  assetBuilds: false, // default
   sourceMapBasePrefix: '../', // default treats sources as output-relative
   // when outputting a sourcemap, automatically include
   // source-map-support in the output file (increases output by 32kB).
diff --git a/src/cli.js b/src/cli.js
index bb8d4580..291860aa 100755
--- a/src/cli.js
+++ b/src/cli.js
@@ -128,6 +128,8 @@ async function runCmd (argv, stdout, stderr) {
   let args;
   try {
     args = require("arg")({
+      "--asset-builds": Boolean,
+      '-a': '--asset-builds',
       "--debug": Boolean,
       "-d": "--debug",
       "--external": [String],
@@ -240,7 +242,7 @@ async function runCmd (argv, stdout, stderr) {
           externals: args["--external"],
           sourceMap: args["--source-map"] || run,
           sourceMapRegister: args["--no-source-map-register"] ? false : undefined,
-          noAssetBuilds: args["--no-asset-builds"] ? true : false,
+          assetBuilds: args["--asset-builds"] ? true : false,
           cache: args["--no-cache"] ? false : undefined,
           watch: args["--watch"],
           v8cache: args["--v8-cache"],
diff --git a/src/index.js b/src/index.js
index 3a9ada32..47763590 100644
--- a/src/index.js
+++ b/src/index.js
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ function ncc (
     sourceMap = false,
     sourceMapRegister = true,
     sourceMapBasePrefix = '../',
-    noAssetBuilds = false,
+    assetBuilds = false,
     watch = false,
     v8cache = false,
     filterAssetBase = process.cwd(),
@@ -564,7 +564,7 @@ function ncc (
     }
 
     // for each .js / .mjs / .cjs file in the asset list, build that file with ncc itself
-    if (!noAssetBuilds) {
+    if (assetBuilds) {
       const compilation = compilationStack[compilationStack.length - 1];
       let existingAssetNames = Object.keys(assets);
       existingAssetNames.push(`${filename}${ext === '.cjs' ? '.js' : ''}`);
@@ -595,7 +595,7 @@ function ncc (
           sourceMapBasePrefix,
           // dont recursively asset build
           // could be supported with seen tracking
-          noAssetBuilds: true,
+          assetBuilds: false,
           v8cache,
           filterAssetBase,
           existingAssetNames,
diff --git a/test/cli.js b/test/cli.js
index 84858c8a..7042173c 100644
--- a/test/cli.js
+++ b/test/cli.js
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
     expect: { code: 0 }
   },
   {
-    args: ["build", "test/fixtures/type-module/main.js", "-o", "tmp"],
+    args: ["build", "test/fixtures/type-module/main.js", "-a", "-o", "tmp"],
     expect: { code: 0 }
   },
   {
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
     }
   },
   {
-    args: ["run", "--v8-cache", "test/integration/test.ts"],
+    args: ["run", "--v8-cache", "-a", "test/integration/test.ts"],
     expect: { code: 0 }
   },
   {
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
     }
   },
   {
-    args: ["run", "--watch", "test/integration/test.ts"],
+    args: ["run", "--watch", "-a", "test/integration/test.ts"],
     expect: { code: 2 }
   },
   {
diff --git a/test/integration.test.js b/test/integration.test.js
index 19d026ba..52d81bec 100644
--- a/test/integration.test.js
+++ b/test/integration.test.js
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ for (const integrationTest of fs.readdirSync(__dirname + "/integration")) {
     const stdout = new StoreStream();
     const stderr = new StoreStream();
     try {
-      await nccRun(["run", "--no-cache", "--no-asset-builds", `${__dirname}/integration/${integrationTest}`], stdout, stderr);
+      await nccRun(["run", "--no-cache", `${__dirname}/integration/${integrationTest}`], stdout, stderr);
     }
     catch (e) {
       if (e.silent) {
diff --git a/test/unit.test.js b/test/unit.test.js
index 11f4f40f..ffc6ec46 100644
--- a/test/unit.test.js
+++ b/test/unit.test.js
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ for (const unitTest of fs.readdirSync(`${__dirname}/unit`)) {
     // find the name of the input file (e.g input.ts)
     const inputFile = fs.readdirSync(testDir).find(file => file.includes("input"));
     await ncc(`${testDir}/${inputFile}`, Object.assign({
+      assetBuilds: true,
       transpileOnly: true,
       customEmit (path) {
         if (path.endsWith('test.json'))
diff --git a/test/watcher.test.js b/test/watcher.test.js
index e071c490..f1280bd7 100644
--- a/test/watcher.test.js
+++ b/test/watcher.test.js
@@ -115,6 +115,7 @@ it('Should support custom watch API', async () => {
 
     console.time('First Build');
     const { handler, rebuild, close } = ncc(buildFile, {
+      assetBuilds: true,
       watch: watcher
     });