diff --git a/lib/internal/crypto/keys.js b/lib/internal/crypto/keys.js
index fb17ba36ced0e3..250147d7529439 100644
--- a/lib/internal/crypto/keys.js
+++ b/lib/internal/crypto/keys.js
@@ -270,7 +270,10 @@ function prepareAsymmetricKey(key, ctx) {
          ...(ctx !== kCreatePrivate ? ['KeyObject'] : [])],
         key);
     }
-    return { data, ...parseKeyEncoding(key, undefined) };
+
+    const isPublic =
+      (ctx === kConsumePrivate || ctx === kCreatePrivate) ? false : undefined;
+    return { data, ...parseKeyEncoding(key, undefined, isPublic) };
   } else {
     throw new ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE(
       'key',
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-crypto-key-objects.js b/test/parallel/test-crypto-key-objects.js
index 558f7dc1f4b673..6fc41677abe9b1 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-crypto-key-objects.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-crypto-key-objects.js
@@ -200,6 +200,14 @@ const privateDsa = fixtures.readKey('dsa_private_encrypted_1025.pem',
     library: 'BIO routines',
     function: 'BIO_new_mem_buf',
   });
+
+  // This should not abort either: https://github.com/nodejs/node/issues/29904
+  assert.throws(() => {
+    createPrivateKey({ key: Buffer.alloc(0), format: 'der', type: 'spki' });
+  }, {
+    code: 'ERR_INVALID_OPT_VALUE',
+    message: 'The value "spki" is invalid for option "type"'
+  });
 }
 
 [