diff --git a/test/electron/renderer.js b/test/electron/renderer.js
index d662a22..6f1d6bf 100644
--- a/test/electron/renderer.js
+++ b/test/electron/renderer.js
@@ -16,6 +16,33 @@
   );
   const { PluginRegistry, createPluginContext } = await import(pathToFileURL(pmEntry).href);
 
+  // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+  // Module loader — supports both CJS (module.exports) and ESM (export default)
+  // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+  /**
+   * Evaluates plugin source code and returns the plugin object.
+   * Tries CJS eval first; falls back to ESM data-URL import for ES module syntax.
+   * @param {string} code
+   * @returns {Promise<object>}
+   */
+  async function evalPluginCode(code) {
+    const isESM = /^\s*(import\s|export\s)/m.test(code);
+
+    if (!isESM) {
+      // CommonJS path
+      const m = { exports: {} };
+      // eslint-disable-next-line no-new-func
+      new Function('module', 'exports', code)(m, m.exports);
+      return m.exports?.default ?? m.exports;
+    }
+
+    // ESM path — import via data URL so the JS engine handles the module syntax
+    const dataUrl = `data:text/javascript;charset=utf-8,${encodeURIComponent(code)}`;
+    const mod = await import(dataUrl);
+    return mod.default ?? mod;
+  }
+
   // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   // Logging helper — writes to the on-screen log panel
   // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -53,11 +80,7 @@
   // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   const pluginPath = path.join(__dirname, 'plugins', 'example-plugin', 'index.js');
   const pluginCode = fs.readFileSync(pluginPath, 'utf-8');
-  const pluginExports = {};
-  const mod = { exports: pluginExports };
-  // eslint-disable-next-line no-new-func
-  new Function('module', 'exports', pluginCode)(mod, pluginExports);
-  const plugin = mod.exports;
+  const plugin = await evalPluginCode(pluginCode);
 
   // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
   // Simple in-process event emitter (stands in for a real client like Matrix)
@@ -209,10 +232,7 @@
   async function loadPluginFromPath(filePath) {
     try {
       const code = fs.readFileSync(filePath, 'utf-8');
-      const m = { exports: {} };
-      // eslint-disable-next-line no-new-func
-      new Function('module', 'exports', code)(m, m.exports);
-      const p = m.exports;
+      const p = await evalPluginCode(code);
 
       if (!p || typeof p.onLoad !== 'function') {
         throw new Error('File does not export a valid plugin (needs an onLoad function)');
@@ -348,10 +368,7 @@
       if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`HTTP ${res.status} fetching ${downloadUrl}`);
       const code = await res.text();
 
-      const m = { exports: {} };
-      // eslint-disable-next-line no-new-func
-      new Function('module', 'exports', code)(m, m.exports);
-      const p = m.exports;
+      const p = await evalPluginCode(code);
 
       if (!p || typeof p.onLoad !== 'function') {
         throw new Error(`Plugin ${pluginId} does not export a valid plugin object`);