diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index be4d41658cf..27753e6f735 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
     "pretest": "yarn build && yarn lint && yarn prepsuite",
     "test": "jest --reporters=default",
     "test:smoketests": "nyc node smoketests",
-    "test:coverage": "nyc --no-hook-require jest --forceExit",
+    "test:coverage": "nyc jest --forceExit",
     "test:cli": "jest test --reporters=default --forceExit",
     "test:packages": "jest packages/ --reporters=default --forceExit",
     "test:ci": "yarn test:cli && yarn test:packages",
diff --git a/packages/webpack-cli/lib/webpack-cli.js b/packages/webpack-cli/lib/webpack-cli.js
index c171608e498..79f7070534c 100644
--- a/packages/webpack-cli/lib/webpack-cli.js
+++ b/packages/webpack-cli/lib/webpack-cli.js
@@ -1160,7 +1160,11 @@ class WebpackCLI {
                         Module.prototype._compile = previousModuleCompile;
                     }
 
-                    if (error.code === 'ERR_REQUIRE_ESM' && pathToFileURL && dynamicImportLoader) {
+                    if (
+                        (error.code === 'ERR_REQUIRE_ESM' || process.env.WEBPACK_CLI_FORCE_LOAD_ESM_CONFIG) &&
+                        pathToFileURL &&
+                        dynamicImportLoader
+                    ) {
                         const urlForConfig = pathToFileURL(configPath);
 
                         options = await dynamicImportLoader(urlForConfig);
diff --git a/test/config-format/mjs/mjs.test.js b/test/config-format/mjs/mjs.test.js
index af96ace1940..4fa4e1cd12b 100644
--- a/test/config-format/mjs/mjs.test.js
+++ b/test/config-format/mjs/mjs.test.js
@@ -2,14 +2,14 @@ const { run } = require('../../utils/test-utils');
 
 describe('webpack cli', () => {
     it('should support mjs config format', () => {
-        const { exitCode, stderr, stdout } = run(__dirname, ['-c', 'webpack.config.mjs']);
+        const { exitCode, stderr, stdout } = run(__dirname, ['-c', 'webpack.config.mjs'], {
+            env: { WEBPACK_CLI_FORCE_LOAD_ESM_CONFIG: true },
+        });
 
         if (/Unexpected token/.test(stderr)) {
             expect(exitCode).toBe(2);
             expect(stdout).toBeFalsy();
         } else {
-            console.log(stderr);
-
             expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
             expect(stderr).toBeFalsy();
             expect(stdout).toBeTruthy();
diff --git a/test/config-lookup/custom-name/custom-name.test.js b/test/config-lookup/custom-name/custom-name.test.js
index 557bc914556..62c5fca458a 100644
--- a/test/config-lookup/custom-name/custom-name.test.js
+++ b/test/config-lookup/custom-name/custom-name.test.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ const { run } = require('../../utils/test-utils');
 
 describe('custom config file', () => {
     it('should work with cjs format', () => {
-        const { exitCode, stderr, stdout } = run(__dirname, ['--config', resolve(__dirname, 'config.webpack.js')], false);
+        const { exitCode, stderr, stdout } = run(__dirname, ['--config', resolve(__dirname, 'config.webpack.js')]);
 
         expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
         expect(stderr).toBeFalsy();
@@ -13,7 +13,9 @@ describe('custom config file', () => {
     });
 
     it('should work with esm format', () => {
-        const { exitCode, stderr, stdout } = run(__dirname, ['--config', resolve(__dirname, 'config.webpack.mjs')], false);
+        const { exitCode, stderr, stdout } = run(__dirname, ['--config', resolve(__dirname, 'config.webpack.mjs')], {
+            env: { WEBPACK_CLI_FORCE_LOAD_ESM_CONFIG: true },
+        });
 
         if (/Unexpected token/.test(stderr)) {
             expect(exitCode).toBe(2);
diff --git a/test/config/defaults/mjs-config/default-mjs-config.test.js b/test/config/defaults/mjs-config/default-mjs-config.test.js
index 5ca205d320f..030ba6bd817 100644
--- a/test/config/defaults/mjs-config/default-mjs-config.test.js
+++ b/test/config/defaults/mjs-config/default-mjs-config.test.js
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ const { run, isWebpack5 } = require('../../../utils/test-utils');
 
 describe('Default Config:', () => {
     it('Should be able to pick mjs config by default', () => {
-        const { exitCode, stderr, stdout } = run(__dirname, []);
+        const { exitCode, stderr, stdout } = run(__dirname, [], { env: { WEBPACK_CLI_FORCE_LOAD_ESM_CONFIG: true } });
 
         if (/Unexpected token/.test(stderr)) {
             expect(exitCode).toEqual(2);
diff --git a/test/config/error-mjs/config-error.test.js b/test/config/error-mjs/config-error.test.js
index db6424d4e83..928760bdb03 100644
--- a/test/config/error-mjs/config-error.test.js
+++ b/test/config/error-mjs/config-error.test.js
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@ const { run } = require('../../utils/test-utils');
 
 describe('config error', () => {
     it('should throw error with invalid configuration', () => {
-        const { exitCode, stderr, stdout } = run(__dirname, ['-c', resolve(__dirname, 'webpack.config.mjs')]);
+        const { exitCode, stderr, stdout } = run(__dirname, ['-c', resolve(__dirname, 'webpack.config.mjs')], {
+            env: { WEBPACK_CLI_FORCE_LOAD_ESM_CONFIG: true },
+        });
 
         expect(exitCode).toBe(2);
 
@@ -17,7 +19,9 @@ describe('config error', () => {
     });
 
     it('should throw syntax error and exit with non-zero exit code', () => {
-        const { exitCode, stderr, stdout } = run(__dirname, ['-c', resolve(__dirname, 'syntax-error.mjs')]);
+        const { exitCode, stderr, stdout } = run(__dirname, ['-c', resolve(__dirname, 'syntax-error.mjs')], {
+            env: { WEBPACK_CLI_FORCE_LOAD_ESM_CONFIG: true },
+        });
 
         expect(exitCode).toBe(2);
         expect(stderr).toContain('SyntaxError: Unexpected token');