diff --git a/doc/CHANGELOG.md b/doc/CHANGELOG.md
index 72c7ee1..240a7fa 100644
--- a/doc/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/doc/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### 🐛 Fixed
+- **v1 lockfile detection without `lockfileVersion`**: `detectType` now recognizes v1 lockfiles and shrinkwrap files that omit the `lockfileVersion` field. Previously these files failed content-based detection with "Unable to detect lockfile type." The parser already handled them correctly — only routing was broken.
+
 ## [1.6.0] - 2026-04-14
 
 ### 🆕 Added
diff --git a/src/detect.js b/src/detect.js
index f03b4d9..22ed426 100644
--- a/src/detect.js
+++ b/src/detect.js
@@ -24,8 +24,19 @@ export const Type = Object.freeze({
 function tryParseNpm(content) {
   try {
     const parsed = JSON.parse(content);
-    // Must have lockfileVersion as a number at root level
-    return typeof parsed.lockfileVersion === 'number';
+    // v2/v3: lockfileVersion as a number at root level
+    if (typeof parsed.lockfileVersion === 'number') return true;
+    // v1 lockfiles and shrinkwraps often omit lockfileVersion entirely.
+    // Detect them by checking for a dependencies tree with object values
+    // (package.json dependencies are version-range strings, not objects).
+    if (parsed.dependencies && typeof parsed.dependencies === 'object') {
+      for (const value of Object.values(parsed.dependencies)) {
+        if (value && typeof value === 'object' && 'version' in value) {
+          return true;
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    return false;
   } catch {
     return false;
   }
diff --git a/test/lockfile.test.js b/test/lockfile.test.js
index 92cbc10..ce953cc 100644
--- a/test/lockfile.test.js
+++ b/test/lockfile.test.js
@@ -38,6 +38,52 @@ describe('flatlock', () => {
       assert.equal(type, flatlock.Type.NPM);
     });
 
+    test('detects npm v1 lockfile without lockfileVersion', () => {
+      const content = JSON.stringify({
+        name: 'my-project',
+        version: '1.0.0',
+        dependencies: {
+          lodash: {
+            version: '4.17.21',
+            resolved: 'https://registry.npmjs.org/lodash/-/lodash-4.17.21.tgz',
+            integrity: 'sha512-v2kDE=='
+          }
+        }
+      });
+      const type = flatlock.detectType({ content });
+      assert.equal(type, flatlock.Type.NPM);
+    });
+
+    test('detects npm shrinkwrap without lockfileVersion', () => {
+      const content = JSON.stringify({
+        name: 'my-project',
+        version: '1.0.0',
+        dependencies: {
+          express: {
+            version: '4.18.0',
+            resolved: 'https://registry.npmjs.org/express/-/express-4.18.0.tgz'
+          }
+        }
+      });
+      const type = flatlock.detectType({ path: 'npm-shrinkwrap.json', content });
+      assert.equal(type, flatlock.Type.NPM);
+    });
+
+    test('does not detect package.json as npm lockfile', () => {
+      // package.json has string dependency values, not objects
+      const content = JSON.stringify({
+        name: 'my-project',
+        version: '1.0.0',
+        dependencies: {
+          lodash: '^4.17.21',
+          express: '~4.18.0'
+        }
+      });
+      assert.throws(() => {
+        flatlock.detectType({ content });
+      }, /Unable to detect lockfile type/);
+    });
+
     test('detects pnpm from content only (no path)', () => {
       const content = 'lockfileVersion: 6.0\npackages:\n  /lodash@4.17.21:';
       const type = flatlock.detectType({ content });
@@ -169,6 +215,32 @@ packages:
         assert.ok(deps.length > 0, 'Should have dependencies');
       });
 
+      test('parses v1 lockfile without lockfileVersion via fromString', () => {
+        const content = JSON.stringify({
+          name: 'my-project',
+          version: '1.0.0',
+          dependencies: {
+            lodash: {
+              version: '4.17.21',
+              resolved: 'https://registry.npmjs.org/lodash/-/lodash-4.17.21.tgz',
+              integrity: 'sha512-v2kDE=='
+            },
+            express: {
+              version: '4.18.0',
+              resolved: 'https://registry.npmjs.org/express/-/express-4.18.0.tgz'
+            }
+          }
+        });
+
+        // Should auto-detect as npm and parse via dependencies tree fallback
+        const deps = [...flatlock.fromString(content)];
+        assert.equal(deps.length, 2);
+        assert.equal(deps[0].name, 'lodash');
+        assert.equal(deps[0].version, '4.17.21');
+        assert.equal(deps[1].name, 'express');
+        assert.equal(deps[1].version, '4.18.0');
+      });
+
       test('fromPackageLock parses directly', () => {
         const content = JSON.stringify({
           lockfileVersion: 2,