diff --git a/lib/vm.js b/lib/vm.js
index 79c97f3af3ff02..bad7f21a9b1398 100644
--- a/lib/vm.js
+++ b/lib/vm.js
@@ -211,9 +211,8 @@ function getContextOptions(options) {
 }
 
 function isContext(object) {
-  if (typeof object !== 'object' || object === null) {
-    throw new ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE('object', 'Object', object);
-  }
+  validateObject(object, 'object', { allowArray: true });
+
   return _isContext(object);
 }