Skip to content

How to fix the error "unexpected token "{". import call expects exactly one argument"

Here is how to fix the error SyntaxError: Unexpected token '{'. import call expects exactly one argument.

Here is how I solved the “SyntaxError: Unexpected token ’{’. import call expects exactly one argument.” error.

I had this problem in Safari. The same problem in Chrome is shown as “Uncaught SyntaxError: Cannot use import statement outside a module”, but the cause is the same.

I was trying to load a script that used ES module style imports, when I noticed the script was not loading, and I had this error in the browser console:

"SyntaxError: Unexpected token '{'. import call expects exactly one argument."

All I had to do to fix this was to use

<script type="module" src="./file.js"></script>

instead of

<script src="./file.js"></script>
→ Get my Node.js Handbook

I wrote 17 books to help you become a better developer, download them all at $0 cost by joining my newsletter

  • C Handbook
  • Command Line Handbook
  • CSS Handbook
  • Express Handbook
  • Git Cheat Sheet
  • Go Handbook
  • HTML Handbook
  • JS Handbook
  • Laravel Handbook
  • Next.js Handbook
  • Node.js Handbook
  • PHP Handbook
  • Python Handbook
  • React Handbook
  • SQL Handbook
  • Svelte Handbook
  • Swift Handbook

JOIN MY CODING BOOTCAMP, an amazing cohort course that will be a huge step up in your coding career - covering React, Next.js - next edition February 2025

Bootcamp 2025

Join the waiting list