diff --git a/packages/gatsby/src/db/loki/nodes-query.js b/packages/gatsby/src/db/loki/nodes-query.js
index 6ca3247cd1334..d0e06e4e63138 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby/src/db/loki/nodes-query.js
+++ b/packages/gatsby/src/db/loki/nodes-query.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ const {
   getNamedType,
   isCompositeType,
 } = require(`graphql`)
-const prepareRegex = require(`../../utils/prepare-regex`)
+const { prepareRegex } = require(`../../utils/prepare-regex`)
 const {
   getNodeTypeCollection,
   ensureFieldIndexes,
diff --git a/packages/gatsby/src/redux/run-sift.js b/packages/gatsby/src/redux/run-sift.js
index fa48490e58866..9d5d8d9e6323c 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby/src/redux/run-sift.js
+++ b/packages/gatsby/src/redux/run-sift.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 // @flow
 const { default: sift } = require(`sift`)
 const _ = require(`lodash`)
-const prepareRegex = require(`../utils/prepare-regex`)
+const { prepareRegex } = require(`../utils/prepare-regex`)
 const { makeRe } = require(`micromatch`)
 const { getValueAt } = require(`../utils/get-value-at`)
 const {
diff --git a/packages/gatsby/src/utils/__tests__/prepare-regex.js b/packages/gatsby/src/utils/__tests__/prepare-regex.js
index a2327cf82e9a5..b9c2364884271 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby/src/utils/__tests__/prepare-regex.js
+++ b/packages/gatsby/src/utils/__tests__/prepare-regex.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-const prepareRegex = require(`../prepare-regex`)
+const { prepareRegex } = require(`../prepare-regex`)
 
 describe(`Prepare regex for Sift.js`, () => {
   it(`handles simple regex`, () => {
diff --git a/packages/gatsby/src/utils/prepare-regex.js b/packages/gatsby/src/utils/prepare-regex.ts
similarity index 82%
rename from packages/gatsby/src/utils/prepare-regex.js
rename to packages/gatsby/src/utils/prepare-regex.ts
index bf229e9f91b3f..0c0cb2de8bdc9 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby/src/utils/prepare-regex.js
+++ b/packages/gatsby/src/utils/prepare-regex.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-const _ = require(`lodash`)
+import _ from "lodash"
 
-module.exports = str => {
+export const prepareRegex = (str: string): RegExp => {
   const exploded = str.split(`/`)
   const regex = new RegExp(
     exploded