diff --git a/lib/internal/modules/esm/get_source.js b/lib/internal/modules/esm/get_source.js
index 5e2cc3e09e7687..2f7b74fb74406c 100644
--- a/lib/internal/modules/esm/get_source.js
+++ b/lib/internal/modules/esm/get_source.js
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 'use strict';
 
+const {
+  decodeURIComponent,
+} = primordials;
 const { getOptionValue } = require('internal/options');
 const manifest = getOptionValue('--experimental-policy') ?
   require('internal/process/policy').manifest :
@@ -28,8 +31,8 @@ async function defaultGetSource(url, { format } = {}, defaultGetSource) {
     if (!match) {
       throw new ERR_INVALID_URL(url);
     }
-    const [ , base64, body ] = match;
-    source = Buffer.from(body, base64 ? 'base64' : 'utf8');
+    const { 1: base64, 2: body } = match;
+    source = Buffer.from(decodeURIComponent(body), base64 ? 'base64' : 'utf8');
   } else {
     throw new ERR_INVALID_URL_SCHEME(['file', 'data']);
   }
diff --git a/test/es-module/test-esm-data-urls.js b/test/es-module/test-esm-data-urls.js
index 61da442c9e081c..282aaf1857a0df 100644
--- a/test/es-module/test-esm-data-urls.js
+++ b/test/es-module/test-esm-data-urls.js
@@ -102,4 +102,9 @@ function createBase64URL(mime, body) {
       assert.strictEqual(e.code, 'ERR_INVALID_RETURN_PROPERTY_VALUE');
     }
   }
+  {
+    const plainESMURL = 'data:text/javascript,export%20default%202';
+    const module = await import(plainESMURL);
+    assert.strictEqual(module.default, 2);
+  }
 })().then(common.mustCall());