diff --git a/lib/internal/modules/run_main.js b/lib/internal/modules/run_main.js
index fa93e54456de3c..1ffbdb485db28c 100644
--- a/lib/internal/modules/run_main.js
+++ b/lib/internal/modules/run_main.js
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 
 const {
   ObjectGetPrototypeOf,
-  SyntaxErrorPrototype,
   StringPrototypeEndsWith,
+  SyntaxErrorPrototype,
   globalThis,
 } = primordials;
 
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ function executeUserEntryPoint(main = process.argv[1]) {
         // Module._load is the monkey-patchable CJS module loader.
         Module._load(main, null, true);
       } catch (error) {
-        if (ObjectGetPrototypeOf(error) === SyntaxErrorPrototype) {
+        if (error != null && ObjectGetPrototypeOf(error) === SyntaxErrorPrototype) {
           const { shouldRetryAsESM } = internalBinding('contextify');
           const mainPath = resolvedMain || main;
           mainURL = pathToFileURL(mainPath).href;