[Bug]: Babel attempts to use wrong runtime helpers in version 7.22

[fire332]

💻

• Would you like to work on a fix?

How are you using Babel?

babel-loader (webpack)

Input code

export async function x() {
return 1
}

Configuration file name

babel.config.js

Configuration

module.exports = (api) => {
  api.cache.never();

  return {
    // Fixes "TypeError: __webpack_require__(...) is not a function"
    // https://github.com/webpack/webpack/issues/9379#issuecomment-509628205
    // https://babeljs.io/docs/en/options#sourcetype
    sourceType: 'unambiguous',
    plugins: [
      [
        '@babel/plugin-transform-runtime',
        {
          regenerator: false,
          version: require('./package.json').dependencies['@babel/runtime']
        }
      ],
      [
        'polyfill-corejs3',
        {
          method: 'usage-pure'
        }
      ],
      [
        'polyfill-regenerator',
        {
          method: 'usage-pure'
        }
      ]
    ],
    presets: [
      [
        '@babel/preset-env',
        {
          bugfixes: true
        }
      ]
    ]
  };
};

Current and expected behavior

Current behavior: log spam of Can't resolve '@babel/runtime-corejs3/helpers/xxx' in 'yyy'

Expected: helpers are resolved into @babel/runtime instead of @babel/runtime-corejs3

Environment

Last known good babel versions:

• System:
  • OS: Windows 10 10.0.19045
• Binaries:
  • Node: 18.16.0 - C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.EXE
  • npm: 9.5.1 - C:\Program Files\nodejs\npm.CMD
    npmPackages:
  • @babel/core: 7.21.8 => 7.21.8
  • @babel/plugin-transform-runtime: 7.21.4 => 7.21.4
  • @babel/preset-env: 7.21.5 => 7.21.5
  • @babel/runtime: 7.21.5 => 7.21.5
  • babel-loader: ^9.1.2 => 9.1.2
  • babel-plugin-polyfill-corejs3: ^0.8.1 => 0.8.1
  • babel-plugin-polyfill-regenerator: ^0.5.0 => 0.5.0
  • webpack: ^5.84.1 => 5.84.1

Possible solution

No response

Additional context

This wasn't an issue in 7.21

[babel-bot]

Hey @fire332! We really appreciate you taking the time to report an issue. The collaborators on this project attempt to help as many people as possible, but we're a limited number of volunteers, so it's possible this won't be addressed swiftly.

If you need any help, or just have general Babel or JavaScript questions, we have a vibrant Slack community that typically always has someone willing to help. You can sign-up here for an invite.

[nicolo-ribaudo]

Can you share your package.json?

[fire332]

Working babel versions from minimal repo:

{
  "name": "test",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "",
  "main": "index.js",
  "scripts": {
    "test": "echo \"Error: no test specified\" && exit 1"
  },
  "author": "",
  "license": "ISC",
  "devDependencies": {
    "@babel/core": "7.21.8",
    "@babel/plugin-transform-runtime": "7.21.4",
    "@babel/preset-env": "7.21.5",
    "babel-loader": "^9.1.2",
    "babel-plugin-polyfill-corejs3": "^0.8.1",
    "babel-plugin-polyfill-regenerator": "^0.5.0",
    "webpack": "^5.84.1",
    "webpack-cli": "^5.1.1"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "@babel/runtime": "7.21.5",
    "core-js-pure": "^3.30.2",
    "regenerator-runtime": "^0.13.11"
  }
}

[nicolo-ribaudo]

Thanks!

This behavior is expected, and it's a breaking change introduced in babel-plugin-polyfill-corejs3 0.8.0 (according to semver, version starting with 0. should bump the second number when there is a breaking change).

Your configuration is asking Babel to use inject "pure" imports to polyfills for the features that you are using. However, Babel previously had a problem: it was injecting imports to helpers (@babel/runtime) that were using modern features without being polyfilled.

babel-polyfill-* packages can now "hint" at Babel runtime from which package to load the helpers, providing a package that is internally polyfilled. This behavior is similar to the old polyfilling strategy, using @babel/plugin-transform-runtime's corejs option instead of babel-plugin-polyfill-corejs3.

We need to improve the docs around this behavior, specifically in https://github.com/babel/babel-polyfills/tree/main/packages/babel-plugin-polyfill-corejs3 and https://github.com/babel/website/blob/main/docs/plugin-transform-runtime.md.

[fire332]

Could this be related? And I'm now expected to install @babel/runtime-corejs3 as well as @babel/runtime?

[nicolo-ribaudo]

You should only need @babel/runtime-corejs3 now. It has been introduced in babel/babel-polyfills#160