diff --git a/lib/internal/bootstrap/pre_execution.js b/lib/internal/bootstrap/pre_execution.js
index ed5a5afe4b8072..e9571a89a62857 100644
--- a/lib/internal/bootstrap/pre_execution.js
+++ b/lib/internal/bootstrap/pre_execution.js
@@ -385,7 +385,7 @@ function initializeFrozenIntrinsics() {
 function loadPreloadModules() {
   // For user code, we preload modules if `-r` is passed
   const preloadModules = getOptionValue('--require');
-  if (preloadModules) {
+  if (preloadModules && preloadModules.length > 0) {
     const {
       Module: {
         _preloadModules