diff --git a/lib/readline.js b/lib/readline.js
index bea005c853c46fc..5166dddfa1565d9 100644
--- a/lib/readline.js
+++ b/lib/readline.js
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ const {
   StringPrototypeStartsWith,
   StringPrototypeTrim,
   Promise,
+  PromiseReject,
   Symbol,
   SymbolAsyncIterator,
   SafeStringIterator,
@@ -400,11 +401,11 @@ Interface.prototype.question = function(query, options, cb) {
 Interface.prototype.question[promisify.custom] = function(query, options) {
   options = typeof options === 'object' && options !== null ? options : {};
 
-  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-    if (options.signal?.aborted) {
-      throw new AbortError();
-    }
+  if (options.signal && options.signal.aborted) {
+    return PromiseReject(new AbortError());
+  }
 
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
     this.question(query, options, resolve);
     if (options.signal) {
       options.signal.addEventListener('abort', () => {