diff --git a/src/rebuild.ts b/src/rebuild.ts
index f427556a..5db1e19a 100644
--- a/src/rebuild.ts
+++ b/src/rebuild.ts
@@ -139,13 +139,7 @@ export class Rebuilder implements IRebuilder {
 
     this.lifecycle.emit('start');
 
-    await this.moduleWalker.walkModules();
-
-    for (const nodeModulesPath of await this.moduleWalker.nodeModulesPaths) {
-      await this.moduleWalker.findAllModulesIn(nodeModulesPath);
-    }
-
-    for (const modulePath of this.moduleWalker.modulesToRebuild) {
+    for (const modulePath of await this.modulesToRebuild()) {
       this.rebuilds.push(() => this.rebuildModuleAt(modulePath));
     }
 
@@ -160,6 +154,16 @@ export class Rebuilder implements IRebuilder {
     }
   }
 
+  async modulesToRebuild(): Promise<string[]> {
+    await this.moduleWalker.walkModules();
+
+    for (const nodeModulesPath of await this.moduleWalker.nodeModulesPaths) {
+      await this.moduleWalker.findAllModulesIn(nodeModulesPath);
+    }
+
+    return this.moduleWalker.modulesToRebuild;
+  }
+
   async rebuildModuleAt(modulePath: string): Promise<void> {
     if (!(await fs.pathExists(path.resolve(modulePath, 'binding.gyp')))) {
       return;
diff --git a/test/fixture/empty-project/node_modules/extra/package.json b/test/fixture/empty-project/node_modules/extra/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0967ef42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixture/empty-project/node_modules/extra/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{}
diff --git a/test/fixture/empty-project/package.json b/test/fixture/empty-project/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0967ef42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixture/empty-project/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{}
diff --git a/test/helpers/module-setup.ts b/test/helpers/module-setup.ts
index b9774b41..fa34f6fd 100644
--- a/test/helpers/module-setup.ts
+++ b/test/helpers/module-setup.ts
@@ -29,13 +29,3 @@ export async function cleanupTestModule(testModulePath: string): Promise<void> {
   await fs.remove(testModulePath);
   resetMSVSVersion();
 }
-
-export async function clearTestModuleDependencies(testModulePath: string): Promise<void> {
-  const packageJsonPath = path.join(testModulePath, 'package.json');
-  const packageJson = await fs.readJSON(packageJsonPath);
-  packageJson.dependencies = {};
-  packageJson.devDependencies = {};
-  packageJson.optionalDependencies = {};
-  packageJson.peerDependencies = {};
-  await fs.writeJSON(packageJsonPath, packageJson, { spaces: 2 });
-}
diff --git a/test/rebuild.ts b/test/rebuild.ts
index ec5706fa..52559d1e 100644
--- a/test/rebuild.ts
+++ b/test/rebuild.ts
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
+import { EventEmitter } from 'events';
 import { expect } from 'chai';
 import * as fs from 'fs-extra';
 import * as path from 'path';
 import * as os from 'os';
 
-import { cleanupTestModule, clearTestModuleDependencies, MINUTES_IN_MILLISECONDS, resetMSVSVersion, resetTestModule, TIMEOUT_IN_MILLISECONDS } from './helpers/module-setup';
+import { cleanupTestModule, MINUTES_IN_MILLISECONDS, resetMSVSVersion, resetTestModule, TIMEOUT_IN_MILLISECONDS } from './helpers/module-setup';
 import { expectNativeModuleToBeRebuilt, expectNativeModuleToNotBeRebuilt } from './helpers/rebuild';
 import { getExactElectronVersionSync } from './helpers/electron-version';
-import { rebuild } from '../src/rebuild';
+import { Rebuilder, rebuild } from '../src/rebuild';
 
 const testElectronVersion = getExactElectronVersionSync();
 
@@ -123,7 +124,6 @@ describe('rebuilder', () => {
     afterEach(async() => await cleanupTestModule(testModulePath));
 
     it('should rebuild only specified modules', async () => {
-      await clearTestModuleDependencies(testModulePath);
       const nativeModuleBinary = path.join(testModulePath, 'node_modules', 'native-hello-world', 'build', 'Release', 'hello_world.node');
       expect(await fs.pathExists(nativeModuleBinary)).to.be.true;
       await fs.remove(nativeModuleBinary);
@@ -133,7 +133,6 @@ describe('rebuilder', () => {
         electronVersion: testElectronVersion,
         arch: process.arch,
         onlyModules: ['native-hello-world'],
-        extraModules: ['native-hello-world', 'ffi-napi', 'ref-napi'],
         force: true
       });
       let built = 0;
@@ -158,6 +157,20 @@ describe('rebuilder', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  describe('with extraModules', () => {
+    it('should rebuild existing modules in extraModules despite them not being found during the module walk', async () => {
+      const rebuilder = new Rebuilder({
+        buildPath: path.join(__dirname, 'fixture', 'empty-project'),
+        electronVersion: testElectronVersion,
+        lifecycle: new EventEmitter(),
+        extraModules: ['extra']
+      });
+      const modulesToRebuild = await rebuilder.modulesToRebuild();
+      expect(modulesToRebuild).to.have.length(1);
+      expect(modulesToRebuild[0].endsWith('extra')).to.be.true;
+    });
+  });
+
   describe('debug rebuild', function() {
     this.timeout(10 * MINUTES_IN_MILLISECONDS);