Strange error trying to run ember tests on debian linux

All our tests pass on multiple macOS machines, and on semaphore-ci, but when we try to build and run tests on a new debian box, we get this error in loader.js:143

not ok 1320 Chrome 72.0 - TestLoader Failures: zipbooks/tests/unit/utils/request-log-test: could not be loaded
    ---
        actual: >
            null
        stack: >
            TypeError: Cannot read property 'exports' of undefined
                at Module._reify (http://localhost:45371/assets/vendor.js:148:59)
                at Module.reify (http://localhost:45371/assets/vendor.js:135:27)
                at Module.exports (http://localhost:45371/assets/vendor.js:109:10)
                at Module._reify (http://localhost:45371/assets/vendor.js:148:59)
                at Module.reify (http://localhost:45371/assets/vendor.js:135:27)
                at Module.exports (http://localhost:45371/assets/vendor.js:109:10)
                at Module._reify (http://localhost:45371/assets/vendor.js:148:59)
                at Module.reify (http://localhost:45371/assets/vendor.js:135:27)
                at Module.exports (http://localhost:45371/assets/vendor.js:109:10)
                at requireModule (http://localhost:45371/assets/vendor.js:32:18)
        message: >
            Died on test #1     at TestLoader.moduleLoadFailure (http://localhost:45371/assets/test-support.js:11150:24)
                at TestLoader.<anonymous> (http://localhost:45371/assets/test-support.js:10463:16)
                at TestLoader.require (http://localhost:45371/assets/test-support.js:10451:27)
                at TestLoader.loadModules (http://localhost:45371/assets/test-support.js:10443:16)
                at loadTests (http://localhost:45371/assets/test-support.js:11174:22)
                at start (http://localhost:45371/assets/test-support.js:10857:33)
                at Module.callback (http://localhost:45371/assets/tests.js:20710:25): Cannot read property 'exports' of undefined
        Log: |
            { type: 'info',
              text: '\'Unit assertion failed and test has been paused for inspection.\'\n' }
            { type: 'error',
              text: '{ module: \'TestLoader Failures\',\n  name: \'zipbooks/tests/unit/utils/request-log-test: could not be loaded\',\n  result: false,\n  message: \'Died on test #1     at TestLoader.moduleLoadFailure (http://localhost:45371/assets/test-support.js:11150:24)\\n    at TestLoader.<anonymous> (http://localhost:45371/assets/test-support.js:10463:16)\\n    at TestLoader.require (http://localhost:45371/assets/test-support.js:10451:27)\\n    at TestLoader.loadModules (http://localhost:45371/assets/test-support.js:10443:16)\\n    at loadTests (http://localhost:45371/assets/test-support.js:11174:22)\\n    at start (http://localhost:45371/assets/test-support.js:10857:33)\\n    at Module.callback (http://localhost:45371/assets/tests.js:20710:25): Cannot read property \\\'exports\\\' of undefined\',\n  actual: null,\n  testId: \'8629d10a\',\n  negative: false,\n  runtime: 1,\n  todo: false,\n  source: \'TypeError: Cannot read property \\\'exports\\\' of undefined\\n    at Module._reify (http://localhost:45371/assets/vendor.js:148:59)\\n    at Module.reify (http://localhost:45371/assets/vendor.js:135:27)\\n    at Module.exports (http://localhost:45371/assets/vendor.js:109:10)\\n    at Module._reify (http://localhost:45371/assets/vendor.js:148:59)\\n    at Module.reify (http://localhost:45371/assets/vendor.js:135:27)\\n    at Module.exports (http://localhost:45371/assets/vendor.js:109:10)\\n    at Module._reify (http://localhost:45371/assets/vendor.js:148:59)\\n    at Module.reify (http://localhost:45371/assets/vendor.js:135:27)\\n    at Module.exports (http://localhost:45371/assets/vendor.js:109:10)\\n    at requireModule (http://localhost:45371/assets/vendor.js:32:18)\' }\n' }

We cannot find any information or have any guesses what might be causing this error.

ember-cli: 3.1.4
node: 8.5.0
os: linux x64

The pattern I'm seeing is that any test that uses setupTest, setupApplicationTest or setupRenderingTest is failing. Regular qunit tests that dont have any setup hooks pass fine.