diff --git a/src/lib/core/modules/coderunner/codeRunner.js b/src/lib/core/modules/coderunner/codeRunner.js
index cb9e9f136..1310f8d7c 100644
--- a/src/lib/core/modules/coderunner/codeRunner.js
+++ b/src/lib/core/modules/coderunner/codeRunner.js
@@ -32,10 +32,12 @@ class CodeRunner {
         }
       }
     }, this.logger);
+
     this.registerIpcEvents();
     this.IpcClientListen();
     this.registerEvents();
     this.registerCommands();
+    this.events.emit('runcode:ready');
   }
 
   registerIpcEvents() {
@@ -74,12 +76,12 @@ class CodeRunner {
     this.events.setCommandHandler('runcode:eval', this.evalCode.bind(this));
   }
 
-  registerVar(varName, code, toRecord = true) {
+  registerVar(varName, code, toRecord = true, cb = () => {}) {
     if (this.ipc.isServer() && toRecord) {
       this.commands.push({varName, code});
       this.ipc.broadcast("runcode:newCommand", {varName, code});
     }
-    this.vm.registerVar(varName, code);
+    this.vm.registerVar(varName, code, cb);
   }
 
   async evalCode(code, cb, isNotUserInput = false, tolerateError = false) {
diff --git a/src/lib/core/modules/coderunner/vm.ts b/src/lib/core/modules/coderunner/vm.ts
index 5bdd7c7a4..2b753e328 100644
--- a/src/lib/core/modules/coderunner/vm.ts
+++ b/src/lib/core/modules/coderunner/vm.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
+import { each } from "async";
 import { NodeVM, NodeVMOptions } from "vm2";
 import { Callback } from "../../../../typings/callbacks";
 import { Logger } from "../../../../typings/logger";
 
 const fs = require("../../fs");
-const { recursiveMerge } = require("../../../utils/utils");
+const { recursiveMerge, isEs6Module } = require("../../../utils/utils");
 const Utils = require("../../../utils/utils");
 
 const WEB3_INVALID_RESPONSE_ERROR: string = "Invalid JSON RPC response";
@@ -49,7 +50,7 @@ class VM {
   constructor(options: NodeVMOptions, private logger: Logger) {
     this.options = recursiveMerge(this.options, options);
 
-    this.setupNodeVm();
+    this.setupNodeVm(() => { });
   }
 
   /**
@@ -108,12 +109,33 @@ class VM {
    * @param {String} varName Name of the variable to register.
    * @param {any} code Value of the variable to register.
    */
-  public registerVar(varName: string, code: any) {
+  public registerVar(varName: string, code: any, cb: Callback<null>) {
     // Disallow `eval` and `require`, just in case.
     if (code === eval || code === require) { return; }
 
-    this.options.sandbox[varName] = code;
-    this.setupNodeVm();
+    // handle ES6 modules
+    if (isEs6Module(code)) {
+      code = code.default;
+    }
+
+    this.updateState((_err) => {
+      this.options.sandbox[varName] = code;
+      this.setupNodeVm(cb);
+    });
+  }
+
+  private updateState(cb: Callback<null>) {
+    if (!this.vm) { return cb(); }
+
+    // update sandbox state from VM
+    each(Object.keys(this.options.sandbox), (sandboxVar: string, next: Callback<null>) => {
+      this.doEval(sandboxVar, false, (err, result) => {
+        if (!err) {
+          this.options.sandbox[sandboxVar] = result;
+        }
+        next(err);
+      });
+    }, cb);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -121,8 +143,9 @@ class VM {
    * @type {VM} class is instantiated. The "sandbox" member of the options can be modified
    * by calling @function {registerVar}.
    */
-  private setupNodeVm() {
+  private setupNodeVm(cb: Callback<null>) {
     this.vm = new NodeVM(this.options);
+    cb();
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/src/lib/core/plugin.js b/src/lib/core/plugin.js
index 235b34394..7914815ba 100644
--- a/src/lib/core/plugin.js
+++ b/src/lib/core/plugin.js
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ Plugin.prototype.loadPlugin = function() {
   if (this.shouldInterceptLogs) {
     this.setUpLogger();
   }
-  if (typeof this.pluginModule === 'object' && typeof this.pluginModule.default === 'function' && this.pluginModule.__esModule){
+  if (utils.isEs6Module(this.pluginModule)) {
     this.pluginModule = this.pluginModule.default;
     return new this.pluginModule(this);
   }
diff --git a/src/lib/utils/utils.js b/src/lib/utils/utils.js
index 2506c2063..d1138afa0 100644
--- a/src/lib/utils/utils.js
+++ b/src/lib/utils/utils.js
@@ -620,6 +620,10 @@ function toposort(graph) {
   return toposortGraph(graph);
 }
 
+function isEs6Module(module) {
+  return typeof module === 'object' && typeof module.default === 'function' && module.__esModule;
+}
+
 module.exports = {
   joinPath,
   dirname,
@@ -669,5 +673,6 @@ module.exports = {
   fuzzySearch,
   jsonFunctionReplacer,
   getWindowSize,
-  toposort
+  toposort,
+  isEs6Module
 };
diff --git a/src/test/vm.js b/src/test/vm.js
index 3891750c6..ad9dda0c4 100644
--- a/src/test/vm.js
+++ b/src/test/vm.js
@@ -33,4 +33,52 @@ describe('embark.vm', function () {
       });
     });
   });
+  describe('#registerVar', function () {
+    it('should be able to evaluate code on a registered variable', function (done) {
+      vm.registerVar('success', true, () => {
+        vm.doEval('success', false, (err, result) => {
+          expect(err).to.be.null;
+          expect(result).to.be.equal(true);
+          done();
+        });
+      });
+    });
+    it('should be able to access a required module that was registered as a variable', function (done) {
+      vm.registerVar('externalRequire', (module.exports = () => { return "success"; }), () => {
+        vm.doEval('externalRequire()', false, (err, result) => {
+          expect(err).to.be.null;
+          expect(result).to.be.equal('success');
+          done();
+        });
+      });
+    });
+    it('should be able to access a required ES6 module that was registered as a variable', function (done) {
+      const es6Module = {
+        default: () => { return "es6"; },
+        __esModule: true
+      };
+      vm.registerVar('externalRequireES6', es6Module, () => {
+        vm.doEval('externalRequireES6()', false, (err, result) => {
+          expect(err).to.be.null;
+          expect(result).to.be.equal("es6");
+          done();
+        });
+      });
+    });
+    it('should be able to access changed state', function (done) {
+      vm.registerVar('one', 1, () => {
+        vm.doEval('one += 1; one;', false, (err1, result1) => {
+          expect(err1).to.be.null;
+          expect(result1).to.be.equal(2);
+          vm.registerVar('x', 'x', () => { // instantiates new VM, but should save state
+            vm.doEval('one', false, (err2, result2) => {
+              expect(err2).to.be.null;
+              expect(result2).to.be.equal(2);
+              done();
+            });
+          });
+        });
+      });
+    });
+  });
 });