diff --git a/.changeset/green-dogs-wait.md b/.changeset/green-dogs-wait.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1703fd1a292
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/green-dogs-wait.md
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+---
+"@graphql-codegen/cli": patch
+---
+
+getPluginByName fails unexpectedly when plugin is not prefixed with @graphq-codegen in ESM context
+
+MODULE_NOT_FOUND is the error code you receive in a CommonJS context when you require() a module and it does not exist.
+ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND is the error code you receive in an ESM context when you import or import() ad module that does not exist.
diff --git a/packages/graphql-codegen-cli/src/plugins.ts b/packages/graphql-codegen-cli/src/plugins.ts
index 1c846911b2a..6bf8aaf8912 100644
--- a/packages/graphql-codegen-cli/src/plugins.ts
+++ b/packages/graphql-codegen-cli/src/plugins.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ export async function getPluginByName(
     try {
       return await pluginLoader(moduleName);
     } catch (err) {
-      if (err.code !== 'MODULE_NOT_FOUND') {
+      if (err.code !== 'MODULE_NOT_FOUND' && err.code !== 'ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND') {
         throw new DetailedError(
           `Unable to load template plugin matching ${name}`,
           `