export default { foo: 2 }; is not the same as: module.exports = { foo: 2 }; The way your example would translate to commonjs is: module.exports = { default:

export default { foo: 2 }; is not the same as: module.exports = { foo: 2 }; The way your example would translate to commonjs is: module.exports = { default: { foo: 2 }, foo: 3 }