If there is no package.json-file in the file to check (or any parent directory), the eslint-run fails due to this piece of code:
https://github.com/benmosher/eslint-plugin-import/blob/802ce7d49d912289d590f735bf9bd2d931064863/src/core/packagePath.js#L11-L12

Following error is reported:

TypeError [ERR_INVALID_ARG_TYPE]: The "path" argument must be of type string. Received null
Occurred while linting {filename}.js