diff --git a/lib/internal/modules/esm/hooks.js b/lib/internal/modules/esm/hooks.js
index a58046eb37abc3..0864554f3b76bd 100644
--- a/lib/internal/modules/esm/hooks.js
+++ b/lib/internal/modules/esm/hooks.js
@@ -179,6 +179,8 @@ class Hooks {
       const boundLoad = FunctionPrototypeBind(hooks.load, hooks);
       ArrayPrototypePush(this.#chains.load, { __proto__: null, fn: boundLoad, url, next });
     }
+
+    return hooks;
   }
 
   /**