diff --git a/packages/node_modules/@node-red/registry/lib/externalModules.js b/packages/node_modules/@node-red/registry/lib/externalModules.js
index ca1e4bfd8..b61392d9b 100644
--- a/packages/node_modules/@node-red/registry/lib/externalModules.js
+++ b/packages/node_modules/@node-red/registry/lib/externalModules.js
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ const exec = require("@node-red/util").exec;
 const log = require("@node-red/util").log;
 const hooks = require("@node-red/util").hooks;
 const url = require("url");
+const { createRequire } = require("module");
 
 const BUILTIN_MODULES = require('module').builtinModules;
 
@@ -139,10 +140,15 @@ function importModule(module) {
     }
     const externalModuleDir = getInstallDir();
     const moduleDir = path.join(externalModuleDir,"node_modules",module);
+    // To handle both CJS and ESM we need to resolve the module to the
+    // specific file that is loaded when the module is required/imported
+    // As this won't be on the natural module search path, we use createRequire
+    // to access the module
+    const modulePath = createRequire(moduleDir).resolve(module)
     // Import needs the full path to the module's main .js file
     // It also needs to be a file:// url for Windows
-    const moduleFile = url.pathToFileURL(require.resolve(moduleDir));
-    return import(moduleFile);
+    const moduleUrl = url.pathToFileURL(modulePath);
+    return import(moduleUrl);
 }
 
 function parseModuleName(module) {