diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index 0582868..acd0af2 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -78,11 +78,11 @@ function writeFileSync (file, obj, options = {}) {
   return fs.writeFileSync(file, str, options)
 }
 
-const jsonfile = {
+// NOTE: do not change this export format; required for ESM compat
+// see https://github.com/jprichardson/node-jsonfile/pull/162 for details
+module.exports = {
   readFile,
   readFileSync,
   writeFile,
   writeFileSync
 }
-
-module.exports = jsonfile