diff --git a/packages/gatsby/package.json b/packages/gatsby/package.json
index 5fc7e5e08402..8b02e542af23 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby/package.json
+++ b/packages/gatsby/package.json
@@ -59,8 +59,8 @@
     "lint": "run-s lint:prettier lint:eslint",
     "lint:eslint": "eslint . --cache --cache-location '../../eslintcache/' --format stylish",
     "lint:prettier": "prettier --check \"{src,test,scripts}/**/*.ts\"",
-    "test": "jest",
-    "test:watch": "jest --watch"
+    "test": "yarn ts-node scripts/pretest.ts && yarn jest",
+    "test:watch": "yarn ts-node scripts/pretest.ts && yarn jest --watch"
   },
   "volta": {
     "extends": "../../package.json"
diff --git a/packages/gatsby/scripts/pretest.ts b/packages/gatsby/scripts/pretest.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..834301f7c38a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/gatsby/scripts/pretest.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+import { execSync } from 'child_process';
+import * as fs from 'fs';
+
+function ensurePluginTypes(): void {
+  if (!fs.existsSync('gatsby-browser.d.ts') || !fs.existsSync('gatsby-node.d.ts')) {
+    // eslint-disable-next-line no-console
+    console.warn(
+      '\nWARNING: Missing types for gatsby plugin files. Types will be created before running gatsby tests.',
+    );
+    execSync('yarn build:plugin');
+  }
+}
+
+ensurePluginTypes();