diff --git a/lib/vm.js b/lib/vm.js
index 0b643110ae9465..d8e3d6586036f3 100644
--- a/lib/vm.js
+++ b/lib/vm.js
@@ -206,9 +206,8 @@ function getContextOptions(options) {
 }
 
 function isContext(object) {
-  if (typeof object !== 'object' || object === null) {
-    throw new ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE('object', 'Object', object);
-  }
+  validateObject(object, 'object', { allowArray: true });
+
   return _isContext(object);
 }