TypeError: SerialPort is not a constructor

I am getting the TypeError: SerialPort is not a constructor error when I npm start my React CRA project. This issue has appeared before, but I believe my code to be up to date and yet I still get this error.

Here is the code:

var portName = 'COM5'; 
var buffer = "";
var baud = 9600;
var SerialPort = require('serialport');
var serialPort = new SerialPort(portName, {baudRate:baud});

The documentation says:

const port = new SerialPort('/dev/tty-usbserial1', {
  baudRate: 57600
})

should open the port. I have tried to forgo the semicolons, but I still get the “not a constructor” error.

Info:

I am using this in a .js file in a react project. My serialport version is 9.2.0