diff --git a/lib/url.js b/lib/url.js
index 2db780c7eb..1623de56ca 100644
--- a/lib/url.js
+++ b/lib/url.js
@@ -1,15 +1,7 @@
 'use strict';
 
-function importPunycode() {
-  try {
-    return process.binding('icu');
-  } catch (e) {
-    return require('punycode');
-  }
-}
-
-const { toASCII } = importPunycode();
-
+const { toASCII } = process.binding('config').hasIntl ?
+  process.binding('icu') : require('punycode');
 const { StorageObject, hexTable } = require('internal/querystring');
 const internalUrl = require('internal/url');
 exports.parse = urlParse;