diff --git a/css-transform.js b/css-transform.js
index 54601bc..e6b54a3 100644
--- a/css-transform.js
+++ b/css-transform.js
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ var concat = require('concat-stream');
 var findNodeModules = require('find-node-modules');
 var mime = require('mime');
 var stripComments = require('strip-css-comments');
+var resolve = require("resolve");
 
 var isExternalURL = function(path) {
     return !! url.parse(path).protocol;
@@ -22,6 +23,17 @@ var isNodeModulePath = function(path) {
     return /^node_modules/.test(path);
 };
 
+// Finds the the import path from parent node_modules even if node_modules is not prefixed in the path
+// @see {@link https://github.com/cheton/browserify-css/issues/46} for further information.
+var isImplicitNodeModulePath = function(url, dirname) {
+    try {
+        var newpathname = resolve.sync(url, { basedir: dirname });
+        return newpathname;
+    } catch (error) {
+        return false;
+    }
+};
+
 // Finds the the import path from parent node_modules.
 // @see {@link https://github.com/cheton/browserify-css/pull/21} for further information.
 var findImportPathInNodeModules = function(baseDir, importPath) {
@@ -249,6 +261,8 @@ var cssTransform = function(options, filename, callback) {
                 // in case it was deduped to a higher location in the tree
                 if (isNodeModulePath(url)) {
                     pathname = findImportPathInNodeModules(dirname, url);
+                } else if (data = isImplicitNodeModulePath(url, dirname)) { // direct requiring of node modules
+                    pathname = data;
                 } else if (isRelativePath(url)) { // relative path
                     pathname = path.resolve(dirname, url);
                 } else { // absolute path
diff --git a/examples/submodules/app.css b/examples/submodules/app.css
index 1835e7e..723ac40 100644
--- a/examples/submodules/app.css
+++ b/examples/submodules/app.css
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 @import "../node_modules/bootstrap/dist/css/bootstrap.css";
+@import "bootstrap/dist/css/bootstrap-theme.css";
 @import "modules/foo/foo.css";
 @import "modules/bar/bar.css";
diff --git a/examples/submodules/bundle.js b/examples/submodules/bundle.js
deleted file mode 100644
index b2facf5..0000000
--- a/examples/submodules/bundle.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,39 +0,0 @@
-(function e(t,n,r){function s(o,u){if(!n[o]){if(!t[o]){var a=typeof require=="function"&&require;if(!u&&a)return a(o,!0);if(i)return i(o,!0);var f=new Error("Cannot find module '"+o+"'");throw f.code="MODULE_NOT_FOUND",f}var l=n[o]={exports:{}};t[o][0].call(l.exports,function(e){var n=t[o][1][e];return s(n?n:e)},l,l.exports,e,t,n,r)}return n[o].exports}var i=typeof require=="function"&&require;for(var o=0;o<r.length;o++)s(r[o]);return s})({1:[function(require,module,exports){
-
-},{}],2:[function(require,module,exports){
-'use strict';
-
-require('./app.css');
-var foo = require('./modules/foo');
-var bar = require('./modules/bar');
-
-foo.init();
-bar.init();
-
-},{"./app.css":1,"./modules/bar":3,"./modules/foo":4}],3:[function(require,module,exports){
-'use strict';
-
-module.exports = {
-    init: function() {
-        var container = document.getElementById('container');
-        var bar = document.createElement('div');
-        bar.setAttribute('class', 'bar');
-        bar.innerHTML = 'bar module';
-        container.appendChild(bar);
-    }
-};
-
-},{}],4:[function(require,module,exports){
-'use strict';
-
-module.exports = {
-    init: function() {
-        var container = document.getElementById('container');
-        var foo = document.createElement('div');
-        foo.setAttribute('class', 'foo');
-        foo.innerHTML = 'foo module';
-        container.appendChild(foo);
-    }
-};
-
-},{}]},{},[2]);
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 744a2a1..cc9da74 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
     "find-node-modules": "^2.0.0",
     "lodash": "^4.17.11",
     "mime": "^1.3.6",
+    "resolve": "^1.20.0",
     "strip-css-comments": "^3.0.0",
     "through2": "2.0.x"
   },