Error [ERR_INTERNAL_ASSERTION]: Unexpected module status 0. Cannot require() ES Module ... because it is not yet fully loaded.

Version

25.8.0

Platform

Linux nic-desktop 6.17.0-14-generic #14-Ubuntu SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Fri Jan  9 17:01:16 UTC 2026 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Subsystem

require(esm)

What steps will reproduce the bug?

1. Clone https://github.com/nicolo-ribaudo/babel-polyfills/tree/nodejs-bug
2. Run yarn && yarn build
3. Run yarn jest es-shims

Note that this is not using Jest's vm-based ESM support. It's using jest-light-runner to run directly in native Node.js ESM.

How often does it reproduce? Is there a required condition?

Consistently. Note that if I run only one test (yarn jest es-shims -t "tepmlate tag") it does not fail.

What is the expected behavior? Why is that the expected behavior?

That it does not tell me to submit a bug report :P

What do you see instead?

    Error [ERR_INTERNAL_ASSERTION]: [BABEL]: Unexpected module status 0. Cannot require() ES Module /home/nic/Documents/dev/github.com/babel/babel-polyfills/packages/babel-plugin-polyfill-es-shims/lib/index.js because it is not yet fully loaded.
    This may be caused by a race condition if the module is simultaneously dynamically import()-ed via Promise.all().
    Try await-ing the import() sequentially in a loop instead.
     (From /home/nic/Documents/dev/github.com/babel/babel-polyfills/packages/babel-plugin-polyfill-es-shims/test/node_modules/@@/babel-plugin-polyfill-es-shims.js in non-loader-hook thread)
    This is caused by either a bug in Node.js or incorrect usage of Node.js internals.
    Please open an issue with this stack trace at https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues
     (While processing: /home/nic/Documents/dev/github.com/babel/babel-polyfills/packages/babel-plugin-polyfill-es-shims/test/node_modules/@@/babel-plugin-polyfill-es-shims.js)
        at assert.fail (node:internal/assert:17:9)
        at ModuleLoader.importSyncForRequire (node:internal/modules/esm/loader:358:16)
        at loadESMFromCJS (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1620:24)
        at Module._compile (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1785:5)
        at Object..js (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1934:10)
        at Module.load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1524:32)
        at Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1326:12)
        at TracingChannel.traceSync (node:diagnostics_channel:328:14)
        at wrapModuleLoad (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:245:24)
        at Module.require (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1547:12)
        at require (node:internal/modules/helpers:152:16)
        at Object.<anonymous> (/home/nic/Documents/dev/github.com/babel/babel-polyfills/packages/babel-plugin-polyfill-es-shims/test/node_modules/@@/babel-plugin-polyfill-es-shims.js:1:18)
        at Module._compile (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1803:14)
        at Object..js (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1934:10)
        at Module.load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1524:32)
        at Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1326:12)
        at TracingChannel.traceSync (node:diagnostics_channel:328:14)
        at wrapModuleLoad (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:245:24)
        at Module.require (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1547:12)
        at require (node:internal/modules/helpers:152:16)

Additional information

No response

Reproduce the failure with the babel-polyfills commands in the issue, then start at ModuleLoader.importSyncForRequire in node:internal/modules/esm/loader and the related CommonJS loader stack entries. Compare the single-test and full-suite behavior, and use the reported require(esm) path to trace the module-loading state. Done means the provided reproduction no longer raises the internal assertion.