diff --git a/.github/workflows/npmpublish.yml b/.github/workflows/npmpublish.yml
index 4f40ede5..2e465adf 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/npmpublish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/npmpublish.yml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ jobs:
       # PR ends up red even when only a single integration container is flaky.
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
-        db: [couch, elasticsearch, mongo, mysql, redis, mock, sqlite, memory, rusty, surrealdb]
+        db: [couch, dirty, elasticsearch, mongo, mysql, redis, mock, sqlite, memory, rusty, surrealdb]
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
 
diff --git a/databases/dirty_db.ts b/databases/dirty_db.ts
index a254a8ee..0a19f861 100644
--- a/databases/dirty_db.ts
+++ b/databases/dirty_db.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,13 @@
 */
 
 import AbstractDatabase, {type Settings} from '../lib/AbstractDatabase';
-import Dirty from 'dirty-ts';
+import DirtyImport from 'dirty-ts';
+
+// dirty-ts is a CJS package that exposes the constructor as `module.exports.default`
+// with the `__esModule` marker. Under Node's ESM-to-CJS interop, the default
+// import resolves to the whole `module.exports` object (not the constructor),
+// so unwrap `.default` if it's present.
+const Dirty: any = (DirtyImport as any).default ?? DirtyImport;
 
 type DirtyDBCallback = (p?:any, keys?: string[])=>{};
 
diff --git a/databases/dirty_git_db.ts b/databases/dirty_git_db.ts
index ced6400c..18577275 100644
--- a/databases/dirty_git_db.ts
+++ b/databases/dirty_git_db.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,13 @@ import {simpleGit} from 'simple-git'
  */
 
 
-import Dirty from 'dirty-ts';
+import DirtyImport from 'dirty-ts';
+
+// dirty-ts is a CJS package that exposes the constructor as `module.exports.default`
+// with the `__esModule` marker. Under Node's ESM-to-CJS interop, the default
+// import resolves to the whole `module.exports` object (not the constructor),
+// so unwrap `.default` if it's present.
+const Dirty: any = (DirtyImport as any).default ?? DirtyImport;
 
 export default class extends AbstractDatabase {
   public db: any;