diff --git a/doc/api/module.md b/doc/api/module.md
index 2fb6ca884b4443..77d5f433b9c270 100644
--- a/doc/api/module.md
+++ b/doc/api/module.md
@@ -76,6 +76,14 @@ const requireUtil = createRequireFromPath('../src/utils/');
 requireUtil('./some-tool');
 ```
 
+### `module.isPreloading`
+<!-- YAML
+added: REPLACEME
+-->
+
+* Type: {boolean} `true` if the module is running during the Node.js preload
+  phase.
+
 ### `module.syncBuiltinESMExports()`
 <!-- YAML
 added: v12.12.0
diff --git a/lib/internal/modules/cjs/loader.js b/lib/internal/modules/cjs/loader.js
index f7ccc5302ad0b2..ebe0c741c9e177 100644
--- a/lib/internal/modules/cjs/loader.js
+++ b/lib/internal/modules/cjs/loader.js
@@ -128,6 +128,7 @@ const relativeResolveCache = ObjectCreate(null);
 
 let requireDepth = 0;
 let statCache = null;
+let isPreloading = false;
 
 function stat(filename) {
   filename = path.toNamespacedPath(filename);
@@ -219,6 +220,10 @@ ObjectDefineProperty(Module, 'wrapper', {
   }
 });
 
+ObjectDefineProperty(Module.prototype, 'isPreloading', {
+  get() { return isPreloading; }
+});
+
 let debug = require('internal/util/debuglog').debuglog('module', (fn) => {
   debug = fn;
 });
@@ -1202,6 +1207,8 @@ Module._preloadModules = function(requests) {
   if (!ArrayIsArray(requests))
     return;
 
+  isPreloading = true;
+
   // Preloaded modules have a dummy parent module which is deemed to exist
   // in the current working directory. This seeds the search path for
   // preloaded modules.
@@ -1210,11 +1217,13 @@ Module._preloadModules = function(requests) {
     parent.paths = Module._nodeModulePaths(process.cwd());
   } catch (e) {
     if (e.code !== 'ENOENT') {
+      isPreloading = false;
       throw e;
     }
   }
   for (let n = 0; n < requests.length; n++)
     parent.require(requests[n]);
+  isPreloading = false;
 };
 
 Module.syncBuiltinESMExports = function syncBuiltinESMExports() {
diff --git a/test/fixtures/ispreloading.js b/test/fixtures/ispreloading.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..a936bbb6761cc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/ispreloading.js
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+const assert = require('assert');
+assert(module.isPreloading);
diff --git a/test/parallel/test-preload.js b/test/parallel/test-preload.js
index 29a2c682606541..df83d74e23bbb5 100644
--- a/test/parallel/test-preload.js
+++ b/test/parallel/test-preload.js
@@ -27,6 +27,19 @@ const fixtureE = fixtures.path('intrinsic-mutation.js');
 const fixtureF = fixtures.path('print-intrinsic-mutation-name.js');
 const fixtureG = fixtures.path('worker-from-argv.js');
 const fixtureThrows = fixtures.path('throws_error4.js');
+const fixtureIsPreloading = fixtures.path('ispreloading.js');
+
+// Assert that module.isPreloading is false here
+assert(!module.isPreloading);
+
+// Test that module.isPreloading is set in preloaded module
+// Test preloading a single module works
+childProcess.exec(
+  `"${nodeBinary}" ${preloadOption([fixtureIsPreloading])} "${fixtureB}"`,
+  function(err, stdout, stderr) {
+    assert.ifError(err);
+    assert.strictEqual(stdout, 'B\n');
+  });
 
 // Test preloading a single module works
 childProcess.exec(`"${nodeBinary}" ${preloadOption([fixtureA])} "${fixtureB}"`,