diff --git a/lib/node_modules/@stdlib/streams/node/join/lib/defaults.js b/lib/node_modules/@stdlib/streams/node/join/lib/defaults.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 920120e46870..000000000000
--- a/lib/node_modules/@stdlib/streams/node/join/lib/defaults.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,46 +0,0 @@
-/**
-* @license Apache-2.0
-*
-* Copyright (c) 2023 The Stdlib Authors.
-*
-* Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-* you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-* You may obtain a copy of the License at
-*
-*    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-*
-* Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-* distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-* WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-* See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-* limitations under the License.
-*/
-
-'use strict';
-
-// MAIN //
-
-/**
-* Returns default options.
-*
-* @private
-* @returns {Object} default options
-*
-* @example
-* var o = defaults();
-* // returns {...}
-*/
-function defaults() {
-	return {
-		'objectMode': false,
-		'encoding': null,
-		'allowHalfOpen': false,
-		'readableObjectMode': false,
-		'sep': '\n'
-	};
-}
-
-
-// EXPORTS //
-
-module.exports = defaults;
diff --git a/lib/node_modules/@stdlib/streams/node/join/lib/defaults.json b/lib/node_modules/@stdlib/streams/node/join/lib/defaults.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..274f2a392426
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/node_modules/@stdlib/streams/node/join/lib/defaults.json
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+{
+  "objectMode": false,
+  "encoding": null,
+  "allowHalfOpen": false,
+  "readableObjectMode": false,
+  "sep": "\n"
+}
diff --git a/lib/node_modules/@stdlib/streams/node/join/lib/main.js b/lib/node_modules/@stdlib/streams/node/join/lib/main.js
index d4ff1cfca8b6..ce4047a60631 100644
--- a/lib/node_modules/@stdlib/streams/node/join/lib/main.js
+++ b/lib/node_modules/@stdlib/streams/node/join/lib/main.js
@@ -27,7 +27,8 @@ var Buffer = require( '@stdlib/buffer/ctor' );
 var setNonEnumerable = require( '@stdlib/utils/define-nonenumerable-property' );
 var setNonEnumerableReadOnly = require( '@stdlib/utils/define-nonenumerable-read-only-property' );
 var nextTick = require( '@stdlib/utils/next-tick' );
-var defaults = require( './defaults.js' );
+var assign = require( '@stdlib/object/assign' );
+var DEFAULTS = require( './defaults.json' );
 var validate = require( './validate.js' );
 var debug = require( './debug.js' );
 
@@ -163,7 +164,7 @@ function JoinStream( options ) {
 		}
 		return new JoinStream();
 	}
-	opts = defaults();
+	opts = assign( {}, DEFAULTS );
 	if ( arguments.length ) {
 		err = validate( opts, options );
 		if ( err ) {