diff --git a/src/node_contextify.cc b/src/node_contextify.cc
index ec0f68671301d0..b35df7aa6f7e99 100644
--- a/src/node_contextify.cc
+++ b/src/node_contextify.cc
@@ -1406,7 +1406,9 @@ Local<Object> ContextifyContext::CompileFunctionAndCacheResult(
 constexpr std::array<std::string_view, 3> esm_syntax_error_messages = {
     "Cannot use import statement outside a module",  // `import` statements
     "Unexpected token 'export'",                     // `export` statements
-    "Cannot use 'import.meta' outside a module"};    // `import.meta` references
+    "Cannot use 'import.meta' outside a module",     // `import.meta` references
+    "await is only valid in async functions and the top level bodies of "
+    "modules"};  // top-level `await`
 
 void ContextifyContext::ContainsModuleSyntax(
     const FunctionCallbackInfo<Value>& args) {
diff --git a/test/es-module/test-esm-detect-ambiguous.mjs b/test/es-module/test-esm-detect-ambiguous.mjs
index 34c5f17f007c8f..3d2ee2cf53219a 100644
--- a/test/es-module/test-esm-detect-ambiguous.mjs
+++ b/test/es-module/test-esm-detect-ambiguous.mjs
@@ -3,9 +3,51 @@ import * as fixtures from '../common/fixtures.mjs';
 import { spawn } from 'node:child_process';
 import { describe, it } from 'node:test';
 import { strictEqual, match } from 'node:assert';
+import { join } from 'node:path';
 
 describe('--experimental-detect-module', { concurrency: true }, () => {
   describe('string input', { concurrency: true }, () => {
+    for (const { name, code, output } of [
+      {
+        name: '`import` statements',
+        code: 'import { version } from "node:process"; console.log(version);',
+        output: `${process.version}\n`,
+      },
+      {
+        name: '`export` statements',
+        code: 'export const foo = "bar"; console.log foo;',
+        output: 'bar\n',
+      },
+      {
+        name: '`import.meta` references',
+        code: 'console.log(import.meta.filename);',
+        output: `${join(process.cwd(), '[eval1]')}\n`,
+      },
+      {
+        name: 'top-level `await`',
+        code: 'const foo = await Promise.resolve("bar"); console.log(foo);',
+        output: 'bar\n',
+      },
+      {
+        name: 'top-level `await` in a function call',
+        code: 'console.log(await Promise.resolve("bar"));',
+        output: 'bar\n',
+      },
+    ]) {
+      it(`supports all possible ESM-only syntax elements: (${name})`, async () => {
+        const { stdout, stderr, code: exitCode, signal } = await spawnPromisified(process.execPath, [
+          '--experimental-detect-module',
+          '--eval',
+          code,
+        ]);
+
+        strictEqual(stderr, '');
+        strictEqual(stdout, output);
+        strictEqual(exitCode, 0);
+        strictEqual(signal, null);
+      });
+    }
+
     it('permits ESM syntax in --eval input without requiring --input-type=module', async () => {
       const { stdout, stderr, code, signal } = await spawnPromisified(process.execPath, [
         '--experimental-detect-module',