diff --git a/lib/internal/modules/esm/translators.js b/lib/internal/modules/esm/translators.js
index 9526e052637725..b1f2c9f2595fc7 100644
--- a/lib/internal/modules/esm/translators.js
+++ b/lib/internal/modules/esm/translators.js
@@ -123,6 +123,16 @@ translators.set('json', async function jsonStrategy(url) {
     });
   }
   const content = await readFileAsync(pathname, 'utf-8');
+  // A require call could have been called on the same file during loading and
+  // that resolves synchronously. To make sure we always return the identical
+  // export, we have to check again if the module already exists or not.
+  module = CJSModule._cache[modulePath];
+  if (module && module.loaded) {
+    const exports = module.exports;
+    return createDynamicModule(['default'], url, (reflect) => {
+      reflect.exports.default.set(exports);
+    });
+  }
   try {
     const exports = JsonParse(stripBOM(content));
     module = {