diff --git a/.changeset/curvy-onions-breathe.md b/.changeset/curvy-onions-breathe.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..7824d637564a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/curvy-onions-breathe.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"wrangler": patch
+---
+
+fix: respect the options.local value in unstable_dev (it was being ignored)
diff --git a/packages/wrangler/src/api/dev.ts b/packages/wrangler/src/api/dev.ts
index 60648d6a1695..af2a729b349b 100644
--- a/packages/wrangler/src/api/dev.ts
+++ b/packages/wrangler/src/api/dev.ts
@@ -129,6 +129,7 @@ export async function unstable_dev(
 	});
 
 	const defaultLogLevel = testMode ? "none" : "log";
+	const local = options?.local ?? true;
 
 	const devOptions: StartDevOptions = {
 		script: script,
@@ -137,8 +138,8 @@ export async function unstable_dev(
 		_: [],
 		$0: "",
 		port: options?.port ?? 0,
-		remote: false,
-		local: undefined,
+		remote: !local,
+		local,
 		experimentalLocal: undefined,
 		d1Databases,
 		disableDevRegistry,