diff --git a/spec/systemjs-compatibility-spec.ts b/spec/systemjs-compatibility-spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6d9adf4a8e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/systemjs-compatibility-spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+// all these imports verify that our ESM imports and exports are SystemJS compatible after transpilation
+// this is done by relying on the tsc type-checker configured with "moduleResolution" set to "classic"
+import * as rxjs from '../src/index';
+import * as rxjsAjax from '../src/ajax';
+import * as rxjsOperators from '../src/operators';
+import * as rxjsTesting from '../src/testing';
+import * as rxjsWebsocket from '../src/websocket';
diff --git a/src/ajax.ts b/src/ajax.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3e8295ad1c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/ajax.ts
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+export * from './ajax/index';
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/internal/Rx.ts b/src/internal/Rx.ts
index df75853838..874df92534 100644
--- a/src/internal/Rx.ts
+++ b/src/internal/Rx.ts
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ import { rxSubscriber } from './symbol/rxSubscriber';
 import { iterator } from './symbol/iterator';
 import { observable } from './symbol/observable';
 
-import * as _operators from './operators';
+import * as _operators from './operators/index';
 
 export const operators = _operators;
 
diff --git a/src/operators.ts b/src/operators.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1065b7f29e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/operators.ts
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+export * from './operators/index';
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/testing.ts b/src/testing.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..83ed436d50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/testing.ts
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+export * from './testing/index';
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/websocket.ts b/src/websocket.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a7f9ecd9f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/websocket.ts
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+export * from './websocket/index';
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tsconfig.json b/tsconfig.json
index 3db6ed4538..a8f687b579 100644
--- a/tsconfig.json
+++ b/tsconfig.json
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
     "noImplicitReturns": true,
     "noImplicitThis": true,
     "suppressImplicitAnyIndexErrors": true,
-    "moduleResolution": "node",
+    "moduleResolution": "classic", // we intentionally use "classic" module resolution to be SystemJS-compatible after transpilation
     "stripInternal": true,
     "target": "es5",
     "outDir": "./.out",