diff --git a/lib/internal/modules/cjs/loader.js b/lib/internal/modules/cjs/loader.js
index 9d3818603f4e2b..2450b86c921e83 100644
--- a/lib/internal/modules/cjs/loader.js
+++ b/lib/internal/modules/cjs/loader.js
@@ -146,7 +146,6 @@ const { safeGetenv } = internalBinding('credentials');
 const {
   getCjsConditions,
   initializeCjsConditions,
-  isUnderNodeModules,
   loadBuiltinModule,
   makeRequireFunction,
   setHasStartedUserCJSExecution,
diff --git a/lib/internal/modules/esm/load.js b/lib/internal/modules/esm/load.js
index 1932dd3c9ca369..d56dae3f001b1c 100644
--- a/lib/internal/modules/esm/load.js
+++ b/lib/internal/modules/esm/load.js
@@ -3,7 +3,10 @@
 const {
   RegExpPrototypeExec,
 } = primordials;
-const { kEmptyObject } = require('internal/util');
+const {
+  isUnderNodeModules,
+  kEmptyObject,
+} = require('internal/util');
 
 const { defaultGetFormat } = require('internal/modules/esm/get_format');
 const { validateAttributes, emitImportAssertionWarning } = require('internal/modules/esm/assert');
@@ -14,9 +17,6 @@ const defaultType =
   getOptionValue('--experimental-default-type');
 
 const { Buffer: { from: BufferFrom } } = require('buffer');
-const {
-  isUnderNodeModules,
-} = require('internal/modules/helpers');
 
 const { URL } = require('internal/url');
 const {
diff --git a/lib/internal/modules/helpers.js b/lib/internal/modules/helpers.js
index 084887c5fa6cae..362d49ee5f2f0a 100644
--- a/lib/internal/modules/helpers.js
+++ b/lib/internal/modules/helpers.js
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 
 const {
   ArrayPrototypeForEach,
-  ArrayPrototypeIncludes,
   ObjectDefineProperty,
   ObjectFreeze,
   ObjectPrototypeHasOwnProperty,
@@ -11,7 +10,6 @@ const {
   StringPrototypeCharCodeAt,
   StringPrototypeIncludes,
   StringPrototypeSlice,
-  StringPrototypeSplit,
   StringPrototypeStartsWith,
 } = primordials;
 const {
@@ -387,13 +385,6 @@ function stripTypeScriptTypes(source, filename) {
   return `${code}\n\n//# sourceURL=${filename}`;
 }
 
-function isUnderNodeModules(filename) {
-  const resolvedPath = path.resolve(filename);
-  const normalizedPath = path.normalize(resolvedPath);
-  const splitPath = StringPrototypeSplit(normalizedPath, path.sep);
-  return ArrayPrototypeIncludes(splitPath, 'node_modules');
-}
-
 /**
  * Enable on-disk compiled cache for all user modules being complied in the current Node.js instance
  * after this method is called.
@@ -493,7 +484,6 @@ module.exports = {
   getCjsConditions,
   getCompileCacheDir,
   initializeCjsConditions,
-  isUnderNodeModules,
   loadBuiltinModule,
   makeRequireFunction,
   normalizeReferrerURL,
diff --git a/lib/internal/util.js b/lib/internal/util.js
index 0973d4efdf2257..8cba1c90ab8189 100644
--- a/lib/internal/util.js
+++ b/lib/internal/util.js
@@ -481,6 +481,10 @@ function spliceOne(list, index) {
 
 const kNodeModulesRE = /^(?:.*)[\\/]node_modules[\\/]/;
 
+function isUnderNodeModules(filename) {
+  return filename && (RegExpPrototypeExec(kNodeModulesRE, filename) !== null);
+}
+
 let getStructuredStackImpl;
 
 function lazyGetStructuredStack() {
@@ -528,7 +532,7 @@ function isInsideNodeModules() {
       ) {
         continue;
       }
-      return RegExpPrototypeExec(kNodeModulesRE, filename) !== null;
+      return isUnderNodeModules(filename);
     }
   }
   return false;
@@ -908,6 +912,7 @@ module.exports = {
   guessHandleType,
   isError,
   isInsideNodeModules,
+  isUnderNodeModules,
   isMacOS,
   isWindows,
   join,