diff --git a/tfjs-backend-wasm/src/backend_wasm.ts b/tfjs-backend-wasm/src/backend_wasm.ts
index c184156aa08..89039f00fea 100644
--- a/tfjs-backend-wasm/src/backend_wasm.ts
+++ b/tfjs-backend-wasm/src/backend_wasm.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 import {backend_util, BackendTimingInfo, DataStorage, DataType, engine, KernelBackend, registerBackend, TensorInfo, util} from '@tensorflow/tfjs-core';
 
 import wasmFactory from '../wasm-out/tfjs-backend-wasm';
-import {BackendWasmModule} from '../wasm-out/tfjs-backend-wasm';
+type BackendWasmModule = ReturnType<typeof wasmFactory>;
 
 const WASM_PRIORITY = 2;
 
diff --git a/tfjs-backend-wasm/tsconfig.json b/tfjs-backend-wasm/tsconfig.json
index ecb732e2195..060ef917a07 100644
--- a/tfjs-backend-wasm/tsconfig.json
+++ b/tfjs-backend-wasm/tsconfig.json
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
     "node_modules/"
   ],
   "compilerOptions": {
-    "outDir": "./dist"
+    "outDir": "./dist",
+    "esModuleInterop": true
   }
 }
diff --git a/tfjs-backend-wasm/wasm-out/tfjs-backend-wasm.d.ts b/tfjs-backend-wasm/wasm-out/tfjs-backend-wasm.d.ts
index 5f287fbe23f..4fa675b1899 100644
--- a/tfjs-backend-wasm/wasm-out/tfjs-backend-wasm.d.ts
+++ b/tfjs-backend-wasm/wasm-out/tfjs-backend-wasm.d.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
  * =============================================================================
  */
 
-export interface BackendWasmModule extends EmscriptenModule {
+interface BackendWasmModule extends EmscriptenModule {
   onRuntimeInitialized: () => void;
   // Using the tfjs namespace to avoid conflict with emscripten's API.
   tfjs: {
@@ -29,4 +29,4 @@ export interface BackendWasmModule extends EmscriptenModule {
 }
 
 declare var moduleFactory: () => BackendWasmModule;
-export default moduleFactory;
+export = moduleFactory;