diff --git a/src/adapter/smartStepping.test.ts b/src/adapter/smartStepping.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..23cefb1fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/adapter/smartStepping.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+/*---------------------------------------------------------
+ * Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
+ *--------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+import { expect } from 'chai';
+import { createStubInstance, stub } from 'sinon';
+import { Logger } from '../common/logging/logger';
+import { upcastPartial } from '../common/objUtils';
+import { nodeLaunchConfigDefaults } from '../configuration';
+import { IPausedDetails, StepDirection } from './pause';
+import { SmartStepper } from './smartStepping';
+import { Source, SourceLocationProvider } from './source';
+import { IPreferredUiLocation, UnmappedReason } from './sourceContainer';
+import { StackFrame, StackTrace } from './stackTrace';
+
+describe('SmartStepper', () => {
+  for (const kind of ['skipped', 'unmapped'] as const) {
+    describe(`${kind} frame`, () => {
+      let stepper: SmartStepper;
+      let paused: IPausedDetails;
+
+      beforeEach(() => {
+        stepper = new SmartStepper({ ...nodeLaunchConfigDefaults, smartStep: true }, Logger.null);
+        const source = createStubInstance(Source);
+        source.blackboxed.returns(kind === 'skipped');
+        if (kind === 'unmapped') {
+          source.sourceMap = upcastPartial<SourceLocationProvider>({});
+        }
+
+        const frame = Object.assign(createStubInstance(StackFrame), {
+          uiLocation: stub().resolves(upcastPartial<IPreferredUiLocation>({
+            source,
+            isMapped: false,
+            unmappedReason: UnmappedReason.MapPositionMissing,
+          })),
+        });
+        const stackTrace = createStubInstance(StackTrace);
+        stackTrace.loadFrames.resolves([frame]);
+        paused = upcastPartial<IPausedDetails>({ reason: 'pause', stackTrace });
+      });
+
+      it('honors an explicit pause request', async () => {
+        expect(await stepper.getSmartStepDirection(paused, { reason: 'pause' })).to.be.undefined;
+      });
+
+      it('still smart steps a pause without explicit pause intent', async () => {
+        expect(await stepper.getSmartStepDirection(paused)).to.equal(StepDirection.In);
+      });
+
+      for (const direction of [StepDirection.In, StepDirection.Over, StepDirection.Out]) {
+        it(`preserves step direction ${direction}`, async () => {
+          expect(await stepper.getSmartStepDirection(paused, { reason: 'step', direction }))
+            .to.equal(direction);
+        });
+      }
+
+      for (const reason of ['breakpoint', 'exception', 'entry'] as const) {
+        it(`preserves ${reason} stops`, async () => {
+          expect(await stepper.getSmartStepDirection({ ...paused, reason })).to.be.undefined;
+        });
+      }
+
+      it('resets the automatic stepping limit when explicitly paused', async () => {
+        for (let i = 0; i < 258; i++) {
+          await stepper.getSmartStepDirection(paused);
+        }
+        expect(await stepper.getSmartStepDirection(paused)).to.equal(StepDirection.Out);
+
+        await stepper.getSmartStepDirection(paused, { reason: 'pause' });
+
+        expect(
+          await stepper.getSmartStepDirection(paused, {
+            reason: 'step',
+            direction: StepDirection.In,
+          }),
+        ).to.equal(StepDirection.In);
+      });
+    });
+  }
+});
diff --git a/src/adapter/smartStepping.ts b/src/adapter/smartStepping.ts
index 87295c4c2..8e4c352fc 100644
--- a/src/adapter/smartStepping.ts
+++ b/src/adapter/smartStepping.ts
@@ -76,6 +76,13 @@ export class SmartStepper {
       return;
     }
 
+    // An explicit pause must leave the debuggee stopped, even in skipped code.
+    // Other pauses (such as debugger statements) can still be smart stepped.
+    if (reason?.reason === 'pause') {
+      this.resetSmartStepCount();
+      return;
+    }
+
     if (neverStepReasons.has(pausedDetails.reason)) {
       return;
     }
diff --git a/src/test/node/node-runtime.test.ts b/src/test/node/node-runtime.test.ts
index b00a6d317..3f12cd951 100644
--- a/src/test/node/node-runtime.test.ts
+++ b/src/test/node/node-runtime.test.ts
@@ -54,6 +54,35 @@ describe('node runtime', () => {
   }
 
   describe('skipFiles', () => {
+    itIntegrates('honors an explicit pause in skipped code', async ({ r }) => {
+      createFileTree(testFixturesDir, {
+        'skipped.js': ['setInterval(() => {}, 10);', 'console.log("ready");'],
+      });
+      const handle = await r.runScript('skipped.js', {
+        smartStep: true,
+        skipFiles: ['<node_internals>/**', '**/skipped.js'],
+      });
+      const ready = handle.dap.once('output', event => event.output.includes('ready'));
+      await handle.load();
+      await ready;
+
+      const { threads } = await handle.dap.threads({});
+      const threadId = threads[0].id;
+      const stopped = handle.dap.once('stopped');
+      await handle.dap.pause({ threadId });
+      expect((await stopped).reason).to.equal('pause');
+
+      const { stackFrames } = await handle.dap.stackTrace({ threadId });
+      expect(stackFrames).to.not.be.empty;
+      const evaluated = await handle.dap.evaluate({
+        expression: '1 + 1',
+        frameId: stackFrames[0].id,
+        context: 'watch',
+      });
+      expect(evaluated.result).to.equal('2');
+      await handle.dap.continue({ threadId });
+    });
+
     itIntegrates('skipFiles skip node internals', async ({ r }) => {
       await r.initialize;
       const cwd = join(testWorkspace, 'simpleNode');