diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 2127baa..a130bdf 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@
     "cli-spinners": "^2.4.0",
     "execa": "^4.0.3",
     "figures": "^3.2.0",
+    "require-from-string": "^2.0.2",
     "shell-parser": "^1.0.0",
     "strip-ansi": "^6.0.0",
     "tslib": "^2.0.1",
diff --git a/src/cli.ts b/src/cli.ts
index 4da6a50..f7c931c 100644
--- a/src/cli.ts
+++ b/src/cli.ts
@@ -8,68 +8,59 @@ import { logger } from './logger'
 import { Is } from './utils'
 import { getGlobalTaskManager } from './task-manager'
 import chalk from 'chalk'
-import { defaultHelpMsg, taskArgv, defaultCli, outputCompletion, loadConfigPromises } from './default-cli'
+import { defaultHelpMsg, taskArgv, defaultCli, outputCompletion } from './default-cli'
 
-async function main() {
-  if (loadConfigPromises.length) {
-    await Promise.all(loadConfigPromises)
-  }
-  const taskCli = cac()
+const taskCli = cac()
 
-  let taskManager = getGlobalTaskManager()
-  taskManager.getTasks().forEach((t) => {
-    let strict = taskManager.globalOptions.strict || t.strict
-    let cmd = taskCli.command(t.name, t.desc, { allowUnknownOptions: !strict })
-    if (t.optionDefs) {
-      t.optionDefs.forEach((def) => cmd.option(...def))
-    }
-    cmd.action(async (...args) => {
-      let options = args.pop()
-      let { globalOptions } = taskManager
-      globalOptions.rawArgs = taskCli.rawArgs
-      globalOptions.options = options
-      await taskManager
-        .run(t.name, {
-          options,
-          rawArgs: taskCli.rawArgs.slice(3),
-        })
-        .catch((err) => {
-          logger.error(err)
-          throw err
-        })
-    })
+let taskManager = getGlobalTaskManager()
+taskManager.getTasks().forEach((t) => {
+  let strict = taskManager.globalOptions.strict || t.strict
+  let cmd = taskCli.command(t.name, t.desc, { allowUnknownOptions: !strict })
+  if (t.optionDefs) {
+    t.optionDefs.forEach((def) => cmd.option(...def))
+  }
+  cmd.action(async (...args) => {
+    let options = args.pop()
+    let { globalOptions } = taskManager
+    globalOptions.rawArgs = taskCli.rawArgs
+    globalOptions.options = options
+    await taskManager
+      .run(t.name, {
+        options,
+        rawArgs: taskCli.rawArgs.slice(3),
+      })
+      .catch((err) => {
+        logger.error(err)
+        throw err
+      })
   })
+})
 
-  taskCli.help((sections) => {
-    if (!taskCli.matchedCommand) {
-      let last = sections[sections.length - 1]
-      let lines = last.body.split('\n')
-      lines.pop()
-      last.body = defaultHelpMsg
-    }
-    console.log(
-      sections
-        .map((section) => {
-          return section.title ? `${section.title}:\n${section.body}` : section.body
-        })
-        .join('\n\n'),
-    )
-    process.exit(0)
-  })
-  taskCli.parse(taskArgv)
+taskCli.help((sections) => {
+  if (!taskCli.matchedCommand) {
+    let last = sections[sections.length - 1]
+    let lines = last.body.split('\n')
+    lines.pop()
+    last.body = defaultHelpMsg
+  }
+  console.log(
+    sections
+      .map((section) => {
+        return section.title ? `${section.title}:\n${section.body}` : section.body
+      })
+      .join('\n\n'),
+  )
+  process.exit(0)
+})
+taskCli.parse(taskArgv)
 
-  outputCompletion(taskCli)
+outputCompletion(taskCli)
 
-  taskCli.on('command:*', () => {
-    console.error(`error: Unknown command \`${taskCli.args.join(' ')}\`\n\n`)
-    process.exit(1)
-  })
+taskCli.on('command:*', () => {
+  console.error(`error: Unknown command \`${taskCli.args.join(' ')}\`\n\n`)
+  process.exit(1)
+})
 
-  if (process.argv.length === 2) {
-    taskCli.outputHelp()
-  }
+if (process.argv.length === 2) {
+  taskCli.outputHelp()
 }
-
-main().catch(e => {
-  throw e
-})
diff --git a/src/default-cli.ts b/src/default-cli.ts
index 1221682..5c726e6 100644
--- a/src/default-cli.ts
+++ b/src/default-cli.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import os from 'os'
 import { logger } from './logger'
 import { Is } from './utils'
 import { getGlobalTaskManager } from './task-manager'
+import requireStr from 'require-from-string'
 
 export const defaultCli = cac()
 // generate default argv because cac cannot handle `foy command` + `foy options`
@@ -171,15 +172,18 @@ function isESM() {
     return false
   }
 }
+const tsnodeOptions = {
+  transpileOnly: true,
+  compilerOptions: {
+    module: 'commonjs',
+    esModuleInterop: true,
+    moduleResolution: 'node',
+  },
+}
 try {
   if (foyFiles.some((f) => f.endsWith('.ts')) && !require.extensions['.ts']) {
-    let options = {
-      transpileOnly: true,
-      compilerOptions: {
-        module:  'commonjs',
-      },
-    }
-    require('ts-node').register(options)
+
+    require('ts-node').register(tsnodeOptions)
   }
 } catch (error) {
   // ignore
@@ -201,13 +205,19 @@ try {
   }
 }
 
-export const loadConfigPromises:Promise<any>[]=[]
 // load foyfiles
-for (const file of foyFiles) {
-  if (isESM()) {
-    loadConfigPromises.push(import(file))
-  } else {
-    require(file)
+{
+  let tsnode: any
+  for (const file of foyFiles) {
+    if (isESM()) {
+      // use tsnode to transpile ESM
+      if (!tsnode) {
+        tsnode = require('ts-node').create(tsnodeOptions)
+      }
+      requireStr(tsnode.compile(fs.readFileSync(file, 'utf-8'), file), file.replace('.ts', '.cjs'))
+    } else {
+      require(file)
+    }
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 540f52e..1d5df03 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -1103,6 +1103,11 @@ repeat-string@^1.6.1:
   resolved "https://registry.npm.taobao.org/repeat-string/download/repeat-string-1.6.1.tgz#8dcae470e1c88abc2d600fff4a776286da75e637"
   integrity sha1-jcrkcOHIirwtYA//Sndihtp15jc=
 
+require-from-string@^2.0.2:
+  version "2.0.2"
+  resolved "https://registry.npmmirror.com/require-from-string/-/require-from-string-2.0.2.tgz#89a7fdd938261267318eafe14f9c32e598c36909"
+  integrity sha512-Xf0nWe6RseziFMu+Ap9biiUbmplq6S9/p+7w7YXP/JBHhrUDDUhwa+vANyubuqfZWTveU//DYVGsDG7RKL/vEw==
+
 resolve-url@^0.2.1:
   version "0.2.1"
   resolved "https://registry.npm.taobao.org/resolve-url/download/resolve-url-0.2.1.tgz#2c637fe77c893afd2a663fe21aa9080068e2052a"