diff --git a/lib/internal/modules/esm/loader.js b/lib/internal/modules/esm/loader.js
index 570454819bb260..d5ffd5f32f599e 100644
--- a/lib/internal/modules/esm/loader.js
+++ b/lib/internal/modules/esm/loader.js
@@ -318,8 +318,6 @@ class ModuleLoader {
    * @returns {ModuleJobBase}
    */
   getModuleJobForRequire(specifier, parentURL, importAttributes) {
-    assert(getOptionValue('--experimental-require-module'));
-
     const parsed = URLParse(specifier);
     if (parsed != null) {
       const protocol = parsed.protocol;
@@ -338,6 +336,9 @@ class ModuleLoader {
     }
 
     const { url, format } = resolveResult;
+    if (!getOptionValue('--experimental-require-module')) {
+      throw new ERR_REQUIRE_ESM(url, true);
+    }
     const resolvedImportAttributes = resolveResult.importAttributes ?? importAttributes;
     let job = this.loadCache.get(url, resolvedImportAttributes.type);
     if (job !== undefined) {