diff --git a/src/module-cache.coffee b/src/module-cache.coffee
index bbb3ec18b..666531d4b 100644
--- a/src/module-cache.coffee
+++ b/src/module-cache.coffee
@@ -121,6 +121,9 @@ resolveModulePath = (relativePath, parentModule) ->
   return if relativePath[0] is '.'
   return if isAbsolute(relativePath)
 
+  candidates = cache.dependencies[relativePath]
+  return unless candidates?
+
   folderPath = path.dirname(parentModule.filename)
 
   range = cache.folders[folderPath]?[relativePath]
@@ -130,9 +133,6 @@ resolveModulePath = (relativePath, parentModule) ->
     else
       return
 
-  candidates = cache.dependencies[relativePath]
-  return unless candidates?
-
   for version, resolvedPath of candidates
     if Module._cache.hasOwnProperty(resolvedPath) or isCorePath(resolvedPath)
       return resolvedPath if satisfies(version, range)