diff --git a/lib/internal/bootstrap/pre_execution.js b/lib/internal/bootstrap/pre_execution.js
index 694ef44c325331..57b06c156ecf04 100644
--- a/lib/internal/bootstrap/pre_execution.js
+++ b/lib/internal/bootstrap/pre_execution.js
@@ -15,7 +15,10 @@ const {
 const { reconnectZeroFillToggle } = require('internal/buffer');
 
 const { Buffer } = require('buffer');
-const { ERR_MANIFEST_ASSERT_INTEGRITY } = require('internal/errors').codes;
+const {
+  ERR_MANIFEST_ASSERT_INTEGRITY,
+  ERR_PACKAGE_NOT_ALLOWED
+} = require('internal/errors').codes;
 const assert = require('internal/assert');
 
 function prepareMainThreadExecution(expandArgv1 = false) {
@@ -97,14 +100,34 @@ function patchProcessObject(expandArgv1) {
   });
   process.argv[0] = process.execPath;
 
+  let base;
   if (expandArgv1 && process.argv[1] &&
       !StringPrototypeStartsWith(process.argv[1], '-')) {
     // Expand process.argv[1] into a full path.
     const path = require('path');
     try {
       process.argv[1] = path.resolve(process.argv[1]);
+      base = path.dirname(process.argv[1]);
     } catch {}
   }
+  const implicitPackageJSONPath = getOptionValue('--package');
+  if (implicitPackageJSONPath) {
+    const cwd = process.cwd();
+    if (!base) {
+      base = cwd;
+    }
+    const path = require('path');
+    const { read, clobber } = require('internal/modules/package_json_reader');
+    const cwdPackage = read(path.join(cwd, 'package.json'));
+    const entryPackage = read(path.join(base, 'package.json'));
+    if (
+      typeof cwdPackage.string === 'string' ||
+      typeof entryPackage.string === 'string'
+    ) {
+      throw ERR_PACKAGE_NOT_ALLOWED();
+    }
+    clobber(path.join(base, 'package.json'), implicitPackageJSONPath);
+  }
 
   // TODO(joyeecheung): most of these should be deprecated and removed,
   // except some that we need to be able to mutate during run time.
diff --git a/lib/internal/errors.js b/lib/internal/errors.js
index 34c168ce38ab91..81a731f0b60d71 100644
--- a/lib/internal/errors.js
+++ b/lib/internal/errors.js
@@ -1355,6 +1355,8 @@ E('ERR_OUT_OF_RANGE',
     msg += ` It must be ${range}. Received ${received}`;
     return msg;
   }, RangeError);
+E('ERR_PACKAGE_NOT_ALLOWED', '--package can only be used when there is not an' +
+  ' existing package.json file', Error);
 E('ERR_PACKAGE_IMPORT_NOT_DEFINED', (specifier, packagePath, base) => {
   return `Package import specifier "${specifier}" is not defined${packagePath ?
     ` in package ${packagePath}package.json` : ''} imported from ${base}`;
diff --git a/lib/internal/modules/package_json_reader.js b/lib/internal/modules/package_json_reader.js
index 09eb12bd1533bf..b7433b4b4d7e12 100644
--- a/lib/internal/modules/package_json_reader.js
+++ b/lib/internal/modules/package_json_reader.js
@@ -38,4 +38,14 @@ function read(jsonPath) {
   return result;
 }
 
-module.exports = { read };
+/**
+ * 
+ * @param {string} jsonPath 
+ * @param {string} srcPath 
+ */
+function clobber(jsonPath, srcPath) {
+  const value = cache.has(srcPath) ? cache.get(srcPath) : read(srcPath);
+  cache.set(jsonPath, value);
+}
+
+module.exports = { clobber, read };
diff --git a/src/node_options.cc b/src/node_options.cc
index d5c2600688767b..7c13c7dcc94132 100644
--- a/src/node_options.cc
+++ b/src/node_options.cc
@@ -395,6 +395,10 @@ EnvironmentOptionsParser::EnvironmentOptionsParser() {
             "silence all process warnings",
             &EnvironmentOptions::no_warnings,
             kAllowedInEnvironment);
+  AddOption("--package",
+            "set file to act as package for entry point",
+            &EnvironmentOptions::implicit_package,
+            kAllowedInEnvironment);
   AddOption("--force-context-aware",
             "disable loading non-context-aware addons",
             &EnvironmentOptions::force_context_aware,
diff --git a/src/node_options.h b/src/node_options.h
index b45a93520dfdad..98b032b656f08d 100644
--- a/src/node_options.h
+++ b/src/node_options.h
@@ -175,6 +175,8 @@ class EnvironmentOptions : public Options {
   bool tls_max_v1_3 = false;
   std::string tls_keylog;
 
+  std::string implicit_package;
+
   std::vector<std::string> preload_modules;
 
   std::vector<std::string> user_argv;