diff --git a/lib/nodejs/serializer.js b/lib/nodejs/serializer.js
index 70640bc5b1..b25c493bf0 100644
--- a/lib/nodejs/serializer.js
+++ b/lib/nodejs/serializer.js
@@ -196,7 +196,8 @@ class SerializableEvent {
       parent[key] = Object.create(null);
       return;
     }
-    if (type(value) === 'error' || value instanceof Error) {
+    let _type = type(value);
+    if (_type === 'error') {
       // we need to reference the stack prop b/c it's lazily-loaded.
       // `__type` is necessary for deserialization to create an `Error` later.
       // `message` is apparently not enumerable, so we must handle it specifically.
@@ -206,10 +207,11 @@ class SerializableEvent {
         __type: 'Error'
       });
       parent[key] = value;
-      // after this, the result of type(value) will be `object`, and we'll throw
+      // after this, set the result of type(value) to be `object`, and we'll throw
       // whatever other junk is in the original error into the new `value`.
+      _type = 'object';
     }
-    switch (type(value)) {
+    switch (_type) {
       case 'object':
         if (type(value.serialize) === 'function') {
           parent[key] = value.serialize();
diff --git a/lib/runner.js b/lib/runner.js
index bc88876c39..d3349ca7a0 100644
--- a/lib/runner.js
+++ b/lib/runner.js
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ var dQuote = utils.dQuote;
 var sQuote = utils.sQuote;
 var stackFilter = utils.stackTraceFilter();
 var stringify = utils.stringify;
-var type = utils.type;
+
 var errors = require('./errors');
 var createInvalidExceptionError = errors.createInvalidExceptionError;
 var createUnsupportedError = errors.createUnsupportedError;
@@ -1223,7 +1223,9 @@ function isError(err) {
  */
 function thrown2Error(err) {
   return new Error(
-    'the ' + type(err) + ' ' + stringify(err) + ' was thrown, throw an Error :)'
+    `the ${utils.canonicalType(err)} ${stringify(
+      err
+    )} was thrown, throw an Error :)`
   );
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/utils.js b/lib/utils.js
index 5fca7aecb3..853fd5b108 100644
--- a/lib/utils.js
+++ b/lib/utils.js
@@ -129,19 +129,21 @@ function emptyRepresentation(value, typeHint) {
  * @param {*} value The value to test.
  * @returns {string} Computed type
  * @example
- * type({}) // 'object'
- * type([]) // 'array'
- * type(1) // 'number'
- * type(false) // 'boolean'
- * type(Infinity) // 'number'
- * type(null) // 'null'
- * type(new Date()) // 'date'
- * type(/foo/) // 'regexp'
- * type('type') // 'string'
- * type(global) // 'global'
- * type(new String('foo') // 'object'
+ * canonicalType({}) // 'object'
+ * canonicalType([]) // 'array'
+ * canonicalType(1) // 'number'
+ * canonicalType(false) // 'boolean'
+ * canonicalType(Infinity) // 'number'
+ * canonicalType(null) // 'null'
+ * canonicalType(new Date()) // 'date'
+ * canonicalType(/foo/) // 'regexp'
+ * canonicalType('type') // 'string'
+ * canonicalType(global) // 'global'
+ * canonicalType(new String('foo') // 'object'
+ * canonicalType(async function() {}) // 'asyncfunction'
+ * canonicalType(await import(name)) // 'module'
  */
-var type = (exports.type = function type(value) {
+var canonicalType = (exports.canonicalType = function canonicalType(value) {
   if (value === undefined) {
     return 'undefined';
   } else if (value === null) {
@@ -155,6 +157,47 @@ var type = (exports.type = function type(value) {
     .toLowerCase();
 });
 
+/**
+ *
+ * Returns a general type or data structure of a variable
+ * @private
+ * @see https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Data_structures
+ * @param {*} value The value to test.
+ * @returns {string} One of undefined, boolean, number, string, bigint, symbol, object
+ * @example
+ * type({}) // 'object'
+ * type([]) // 'array'
+ * type(1) // 'number'
+ * type(false) // 'boolean'
+ * type(Infinity) // 'number'
+ * type(null) // 'null'
+ * type(new Date()) // 'object'
+ * type(/foo/) // 'object'
+ * type('type') // 'string'
+ * type(global) // 'object'
+ * type(new String('foo') // 'string'
+ */
+exports.type = function type(value) {
+  // Null is special
+  if (value === null) return 'null';
+  const primitives = new Set([
+    'undefined',
+    'boolean',
+    'number',
+    'string',
+    'bigint',
+    'symbol'
+  ]);
+  const _type = typeof value;
+  if (_type === 'function') return _type;
+  if (primitives.has(_type)) return _type;
+  if (value instanceof String) return 'string';
+  if (value instanceof Error) return 'error';
+  if (Array.isArray(value)) return 'array';
+
+  return _type;
+};
+
 /**
  * Stringify `value`. Different behavior depending on type of value:
  *
@@ -171,7 +214,7 @@ var type = (exports.type = function type(value) {
  * @return {string}
  */
 exports.stringify = function(value) {
-  var typeHint = type(value);
+  var typeHint = canonicalType(value);
 
   if (!~['object', 'array', 'function'].indexOf(typeHint)) {
     if (typeHint === 'buffer') {
@@ -237,7 +280,7 @@ function jsonStringify(object, spaces, depth) {
   }
 
   function _stringify(val) {
-    switch (type(val)) {
+    switch (canonicalType(val)) {
       case 'null':
       case 'undefined':
         val = '[' + val + ']';
@@ -318,7 +361,7 @@ exports.canonicalize = function canonicalize(value, stack, typeHint) {
   /* eslint-disable no-unused-vars */
   var prop;
   /* eslint-enable no-unused-vars */
-  typeHint = typeHint || type(value);
+  typeHint = typeHint || canonicalType(value);
   function withStack(value, fn) {
     stack.push(value);
     fn();
@@ -552,7 +595,7 @@ exports.createMap = function(obj) {
  * @throws {TypeError} if argument is not a non-empty object.
  */
 exports.defineConstants = function(obj) {
-  if (type(obj) !== 'object' || !Object.keys(obj).length) {
+  if (canonicalType(obj) !== 'object' || !Object.keys(obj).length) {
     throw new TypeError('Invalid argument; expected a non-empty object');
   }
   return Object.freeze(exports.createMap(obj));
diff --git a/test/node-unit/utils.spec.js b/test/node-unit/utils.spec.js
index 720e93f6c3..a3eda635e7 100644
--- a/test/node-unit/utils.spec.js
+++ b/test/node-unit/utils.spec.js
@@ -18,10 +18,29 @@ describe('utils', function() {
     });
 
     describe('type()', function() {
-      it('should return "asyncfunction" if the parameter is an async function', function() {
+      it('should return "function" if the parameter is an async function', function() {
         expect(
           utils.type(async () => {}),
           'to be',
+          'function'
+        );
+      });
+      it('should return "error" if the parameter is an Error', function() {
+        expect(utils.type(new Error('err')), 'to be', 'error');
+      });
+    });
+    describe('canonicalType()', function() {
+      it('should return "buffer" if the parameter is a Buffer', function() {
+        expect(
+          utils.canonicalType(Buffer.from('ff', 'hex')),
+          'to be',
+          'buffer'
+        );
+      });
+      it('should return "asyncfunction" if the parameter is an async function', function() {
+        expect(
+          utils.canonicalType(async () => {}),
+          'to be',
           'asyncfunction'
         );
       });
diff --git a/test/unit/utils.spec.js b/test/unit/utils.spec.js
index a953ac51ae..c239627f55 100644
--- a/test/unit/utils.spec.js
+++ b/test/unit/utils.spec.js
@@ -536,6 +536,60 @@ describe('lib/utils', function() {
       };
     });
 
+    it('should recognize various types', function() {
+      expect(type({}), 'to be', 'object');
+      expect(type([]), 'to be', 'array');
+      expect(type(1), 'to be', 'number');
+      expect(type(Infinity), 'to be', 'number');
+      expect(type(null), 'to be', 'null');
+      expect(type(undefined), 'to be', 'undefined');
+      expect(type(new Date()), 'to be', 'object');
+      expect(type(/foo/), 'to be', 'object');
+      expect(type('type'), 'to be', 'string');
+      expect(type(new Error()), 'to be', 'error');
+      expect(type(global), 'to be', 'object');
+      expect(type(true), 'to be', 'boolean');
+      expect(type(Buffer.from('ff', 'hex')), 'to be', 'object');
+      expect(type(Symbol.iterator), 'to be', 'symbol');
+      expect(type(new Map()), 'to be', 'object');
+      expect(type(new WeakMap()), 'to be', 'object');
+      expect(type(new Set()), 'to be', 'object');
+      expect(type(new WeakSet()), 'to be', 'object');
+      expect(
+        type(async () => {}),
+        'to be',
+        'function'
+      );
+    });
+
+    describe('when toString on null or undefined stringifies window', function() {
+      it('should recognize null and undefined', function() {
+        expect(type(null), 'to be', 'null');
+        expect(type(undefined), 'to be', 'undefined');
+      });
+    });
+
+    afterEach(function() {
+      Object.prototype.toString = toString;
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('canonicalType()', function() {
+    /* eslint no-extend-native: off */
+
+    var type = utils.canonicalType;
+    var toString = Object.prototype.toString;
+
+    beforeEach(function() {
+      // some JS engines such as PhantomJS 1.x exhibit this behavior
+      Object.prototype.toString = function() {
+        if (this === global) {
+          return '[object DOMWindow]';
+        }
+        return toString.call(this);
+      };
+    });
+
     it('should recognize various types', function() {
       expect(type({}), 'to be', 'object');
       expect(type([]), 'to be', 'array');