diff --git a/lib/internal/process/esm_loader.js b/lib/internal/process/esm_loader.js
index b2415ec171f985..72d39a69600d88 100644
--- a/lib/internal/process/esm_loader.js
+++ b/lib/internal/process/esm_loader.js
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ exports.ESMLoader = undefined;
 exports.setup = function() {
   let ESMLoader = new Loader();
   const loaderPromise = (async () => {
-    const userLoader = process.binding('config').userLoader;
+    const userLoader = internalBinding('options').getOptions('--loader');
     if (userLoader) {
       const hooks = await ESMLoader.import(
         userLoader, pathToFileURL(`${process.cwd()}/`).href);