diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index e49dfa46..fdbabe90 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "express-openapi-validator",
-  "version": "2.8.0",
+  "version": "2.8.1",
   "lockfileVersion": 1,
   "requires": true,
   "dependencies": {
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 781e0bc1..a39d64b6 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "express-openapi-validator",
-  "version": "2.8.0",
+  "version": "2.8.1",
   "description": "Automatically validate API requests using an OpenAPI 3 and Express.",
   "main": "dist/index.js",
   "scripts": {
diff --git a/src/framework/util.ts b/src/framework/util.ts
index 403de5ca..34dbcfa1 100644
--- a/src/framework/util.ts
+++ b/src/framework/util.ts
@@ -28,12 +28,7 @@ export function loadSpecFile(filePath) {
   if (typeof filePath === 'string') {
     const absolutePath = path.resolve(process.cwd(), filePath);
     if (fs.existsSync(absolutePath)) {
-      try {
-        // json or module
-        return require(absolutePath);
-      } catch (e) {
-        return fs.readFileSync(absolutePath, 'utf8');
-      }
+      return fs.readFileSync(absolutePath, 'utf8');
     }
   }
   return null;