diff --git a/packages/cli/src/imports.js b/packages/cli/src/imports.js
index b68f1bc38c..22f1bee6ec 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/imports.js
+++ b/packages/cli/src/imports.js
@@ -1,28 +1,25 @@
 import path from 'path'
-import consola from 'consola'
 
 const localNodeModules = path.resolve(process.cwd(), 'node_modules')
 
 // Prefer importing modules from local node_modules (for NPX and global bin)
 async function _import(modulePath) {
-  let m
-  for (const mp of [ path.resolve(localNodeModules, modulePath), modulePath ]) {
+  for (const mp of [
+    path.resolve(localNodeModules, modulePath),
+    modulePath
+  ]) {
     try {
-      m = await import(mp)
+      return await import(mp)
     } catch (e) {
       if (e.code !== 'MODULE_NOT_FOUND') {
         throw e
-      } else if (mp === modulePath) {
-        consola.fatal(
-          `Module ${modulePath} not found.\n\n`,
-          `Please install missing dependency:\n\n`,
-          `Using npm:  npm i ${modulePath}\n\n`,
-          `Using yarn: yarn add ${modulePath}`
-        )
       }
     }
   }
-  return m
+
+  const error = new Error(`Cannot import module '${modulePath}'`)
+  error.code = 'MODULE_NOT_FOUND'
+  throw error
 }
 
 export const builder = () => _import('@nuxt/builder')
diff --git a/packages/cli/test/unit/imports.test.js b/packages/cli/test/unit/imports.test.js
index 75f040f0c4..93e5e361b8 100644
--- a/packages/cli/test/unit/imports.test.js
+++ b/packages/cli/test/unit/imports.test.js
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import consola from 'consola'
 import { importModule } from '../../src/imports'
 
 describe('imports', () => {
@@ -8,15 +7,11 @@ describe('imports', () => {
   test('should import core module', async () => {
     await expect(importModule('path')).resolves.toBeDefined()
   })
-  test('should print error when module not found', async () => {
-    await expect(importModule('not-found-module')).resolves.toBeUndefined()
-    expect(consola.fatal).toHaveBeenCalled()
-    expect(consola.fatal).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-      `Module not-found-module not found.\n\n`,
-      `Please install missing dependency:\n\n`,
-      `Using npm:  npm i not-found-module\n\n`,
-      `Using yarn: yarn add not-found-module`
-    )
+  test('should throw error with proper code when module not found', async () => {
+    await expect(importModule('not-found-module')).rejects.toMatchObject({
+      message: `Cannot import module 'not-found-module'`,
+      code: 'MODULE_NOT_FOUND'
+    })
   })
   test('should throw error when error is not module not found', async () => {
     await expect(importModule('jest/README.md')).rejects.toThrow()