diff --git a/packages/wxt-demo/wxt.config.ts b/packages/wxt-demo/wxt.config.ts
index ba332da4..e1571334 100644
--- a/packages/wxt-demo/wxt.config.ts
+++ b/packages/wxt-demo/wxt.config.ts
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ export default defineConfig({
     open: true,
   },
   experimental: {
-    viteRuntime: true,
+    entrypointImporter: 'vite-node',
   },
   runner: {
     startUrls: ['https://duckduckgo.com'],
diff --git a/packages/wxt/e2e/tests/manifest-content.test.ts b/packages/wxt/e2e/tests/manifest-content.test.ts
index fff27e5b..494533f1 100644
--- a/packages/wxt/e2e/tests/manifest-content.test.ts
+++ b/packages/wxt/e2e/tests/manifest-content.test.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
 import { TestProject } from '../utils';
 
-describe.each([true, false])(
+describe.each(['jiti', 'vite-runtime', 'vite-node'] as const)(
   'Manifest Content (Vite runtime? %s)',
-  (viteRuntime) => {
+  (entrypointImporter) => {
     it.each([
       { browser: undefined, outDir: 'chrome-mv3', expected: undefined },
       { browser: 'chrome', outDir: 'chrome-mv3', expected: undefined },
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ describe.each([true, false])(
           main: () => {},
         })`,
         );
-        await project.build({ browser, experimental: { viteRuntime } });
+        await project.build({ browser, experimental: { entrypointImporter } });
 
         const safariManifest = await project.getOutputManifest(
           `.output/${outDir}/manifest.json`,
diff --git a/packages/wxt/package.json b/packages/wxt/package.json
index de6eec38..430b2b35 100644
--- a/packages/wxt/package.json
+++ b/packages/wxt/package.json
@@ -138,6 +138,7 @@
     "publish-browser-extension": "^2.1.3",
     "unimport": "^3.7.2",
     "vite": "^5.3.0",
+    "vite-node": "^1.6.0",
     "web-ext-run": "^0.2.0",
     "webextension-polyfill": "^0.10.0"
   },
diff --git a/packages/wxt/src/core/builders/vite/__tests__/index.test.ts b/packages/wxt/src/core/builders/vite/__tests__/index.test.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 3d476f8b..00000000
--- a/packages/wxt/src/core/builders/vite/__tests__/index.test.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
-import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';
-import { createViteBuilder } from '../index';
-import { fakeResolvedConfig } from '~/core/utils/testing/fake-objects';
-import { createHooks } from 'hookable';
-
-describe('Vite Builder', () => {
-  describe('importEntrypoint', () => {
-    it('should import entrypoints, removing runtime values (like the main function)', async () => {
-      const {
-        default: { main: _, ...expected },
-      } = await import('./fixtures/module');
-      const builder = await createViteBuilder(
-        fakeResolvedConfig({ root: __dirname }),
-        createHooks(),
-      );
-      const actual = await builder.importEntrypoint<{ default: any }>(
-        './fixtures/module.ts',
-      );
-      expect(actual).toEqual(expected);
-    });
-  });
-});
diff --git a/packages/wxt/src/core/builders/vite/index.ts b/packages/wxt/src/core/builders/vite/index.ts
index b466295b..800b750e 100644
--- a/packages/wxt/src/core/builders/vite/index.ts
+++ b/packages/wxt/src/core/builders/vite/index.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@ import {
 import { Hookable } from 'hookable';
 import { toArray } from '~/core/utils/arrays';
 import { safeVarName } from '~/core/utils/strings';
+import { importEntrypointFile } from '~/core/utils/building';
+import { ViteNodeServer } from 'vite-node/server';
+import { ViteNodeRunner } from 'vite-node/client';
+import { installSourcemapsSupport } from 'vite-node/source-map';
 
 export async function createViteBuilder(
   wxtConfig: ResolvedConfig,
@@ -204,21 +208,65 @@ export async function createViteBuilder(
   return {
     name: 'Vite',
     version: vite.version,
-    async importEntrypoint(url) {
-      const baseConfig = await getBaseConfig();
-      const envConfig: vite.InlineConfig = {
-        plugins: [
-          wxtPlugins.webextensionPolyfillMock(wxtConfig),
-          wxtPlugins.removeEntrypointMainFunction(wxtConfig, url),
-        ],
-      };
-      const config = vite.mergeConfig(baseConfig, envConfig);
-      const server = await vite.createServer(config);
-      await server.listen();
-      const runtime = await vite.createViteRuntime(server, { hmr: false });
-      const module = await runtime.executeUrl(url);
-      await server.close();
-      return module.default;
+    async importEntrypoint(path) {
+      switch (wxtConfig.experimental.entrypointImporter) {
+        default:
+        case 'jiti': {
+          return await importEntrypointFile(path);
+        }
+        case 'vite-runtime': {
+          const baseConfig = await getBaseConfig();
+          const envConfig: vite.InlineConfig = {
+            plugins: [
+              wxtPlugins.webextensionPolyfillMock(wxtConfig),
+              wxtPlugins.removeEntrypointMainFunction(wxtConfig, path),
+            ],
+          };
+          const config = vite.mergeConfig(baseConfig, envConfig);
+          const server = await vite.createServer(config);
+          await server.listen();
+          const runtime = await vite.createViteRuntime(server, { hmr: false });
+          const module = await runtime.executeUrl(path);
+          await server.close();
+          return module.default;
+        }
+        case 'vite-node': {
+          const baseConfig = await getBaseConfig();
+          // Disable dep optimization, as recommended by vite-node's README
+          baseConfig.optimizeDeps ??= {};
+          baseConfig.optimizeDeps.noDiscovery = true;
+          baseConfig.optimizeDeps.include = [];
+          const envConfig: vite.InlineConfig = {
+            plugins: [
+              wxtPlugins.webextensionPolyfillMock(wxtConfig),
+              wxtPlugins.removeEntrypointMainFunction(wxtConfig, path),
+            ],
+          };
+          const config = vite.mergeConfig(baseConfig, envConfig);
+          const server = await vite.createServer(config);
+          await server.pluginContainer.buildStart({});
+          const node = new ViteNodeServer(server);
+          installSourcemapsSupport({
+            getSourceMap: (source) => node.getSourceMap(source),
+          });
+          const runner = new ViteNodeRunner({
+            root: server.config.root,
+            base: server.config.base,
+            // when having the server and runner in a different context,
+            // you will need to handle the communication between them
+            // and pass to this function
+            fetchModule(id) {
+              return node.fetchModule(id);
+            },
+            resolveId(id, importer) {
+              return node.resolveId(id, importer);
+            },
+          });
+          const res = await runner.executeFile(path);
+          await server.close();
+          return res.default;
+        }
+      }
     },
     async build(group) {
       let entryConfig;
diff --git a/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/building/__tests__/find-entrypoints.test.ts b/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/building/__tests__/find-entrypoints.test.ts
index 5e4f2a45..79876c93 100644
--- a/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/building/__tests__/find-entrypoints.test.ts
+++ b/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/building/__tests__/find-entrypoints.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach } from 'vitest';
+import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach, Mock } from 'vitest';
 import {
   BackgroundEntrypoint,
   BackgroundEntrypointOptions,
@@ -12,16 +12,13 @@ import {
 import { resolve } from 'path';
 import { findEntrypoints } from '../find-entrypoints';
 import fs from 'fs-extra';
-import { importEntrypointFile } from '../import-entrypoint';
 import glob from 'fast-glob';
 import {
   fakeResolvedConfig,
   setFakeWxt,
 } from '~/core/utils/testing/fake-objects';
 import { unnormalizePath } from '~/core/utils/paths';
-
-vi.mock('../import-entrypoint');
-const importEntrypointFileMock = vi.mocked(importEntrypointFile);
+import { wxt } from '~/core/wxt';
 
 vi.mock('fast-glob');
 const globMock = vi.mocked(glob);
@@ -39,9 +36,11 @@ describe('findEntrypoints', () => {
     outDir: resolve('.output'),
     command: 'build',
   });
+  let importEntrypointMock: Mock;
 
   beforeEach(() => {
     setFakeWxt({ config });
+    importEntrypointMock = vi.mocked(wxt.builder.importEntrypoint);
   });
 
   it.each<[string, string, PopupEntrypoint]>([
@@ -211,13 +210,13 @@ describe('findEntrypoints', () => {
         matches: ['<all_urls>'],
       };
       globMock.mockResolvedValueOnce([path]);
-      importEntrypointFileMock.mockResolvedValue(options);
+      importEntrypointMock.mockResolvedValue(options);
 
       const entrypoints = await findEntrypoints();
 
       expect(entrypoints).toHaveLength(1);
       expect(entrypoints[0]).toEqual({ ...expected, options });
-      expect(importEntrypointFileMock).toBeCalledWith(expected.inputPath);
+      expect(importEntrypointMock).toBeCalledWith(expected.inputPath);
     },
   );
 
@@ -249,13 +248,13 @@ describe('findEntrypoints', () => {
         type: 'module',
       };
       globMock.mockResolvedValueOnce([path]);
-      importEntrypointFileMock.mockResolvedValue(options);
+      importEntrypointMock.mockResolvedValue(options);
 
       const entrypoints = await findEntrypoints();
 
       expect(entrypoints).toHaveLength(1);
       expect(entrypoints[0]).toEqual({ ...expected, options });
-      expect(importEntrypointFileMock).toBeCalledWith(expected.inputPath);
+      expect(importEntrypointMock).toBeCalledWith(expected.inputPath);
     },
   );
 
@@ -338,12 +337,13 @@ describe('findEntrypoints', () => {
       config: {
         manifestVersion: 2,
       },
+      builder: wxt.builder,
     });
     const options: BackgroundEntrypointOptions = {
       type: 'module',
     };
     globMock.mockResolvedValueOnce(['background.ts']);
-    importEntrypointFileMock.mockResolvedValue(options);
+    importEntrypointMock.mockResolvedValue(options);
 
     const entrypoints = await findEntrypoints();
 
@@ -355,12 +355,13 @@ describe('findEntrypoints', () => {
       config: {
         manifestVersion: 3,
       },
+      builder: wxt.builder,
     });
     const options: BackgroundEntrypointOptions = {
       type: 'module',
     };
     globMock.mockResolvedValueOnce(['background.ts']);
-    importEntrypointFileMock.mockResolvedValue(options);
+    importEntrypointMock.mockResolvedValue(options);
 
     const entrypoints = await findEntrypoints();
 
@@ -373,6 +374,7 @@ describe('findEntrypoints', () => {
         ...config,
         command: 'serve',
       },
+      builder: wxt.builder,
     });
     globMock.mockResolvedValueOnce(['popup.html']);
 
@@ -410,13 +412,13 @@ describe('findEntrypoints', () => {
       };
       const options: BaseEntrypointOptions = {};
       globMock.mockResolvedValueOnce([path]);
-      importEntrypointFileMock.mockResolvedValue(options);
+      importEntrypointMock.mockResolvedValue(options);
 
       const entrypoints = await findEntrypoints();
 
       expect(entrypoints).toHaveLength(1);
       expect(entrypoints[0]).toEqual({ ...expected, options });
-      expect(importEntrypointFileMock).toBeCalledWith(expected.inputPath);
+      expect(importEntrypointMock).toBeCalledWith(expected.inputPath);
     },
   );
 
@@ -701,7 +703,7 @@ describe('findEntrypoints', () => {
   describe('include option', () => {
     it("should filter out the background when include doesn't contain the target browser", async () => {
       globMock.mockResolvedValueOnce(['background.ts']);
-      importEntrypointFileMock.mockResolvedValue({
+      importEntrypointMock.mockResolvedValue({
         include: ['not' + config.browser],
       });
 
@@ -712,7 +714,7 @@ describe('findEntrypoints', () => {
 
     it("should filter out content scripts when include doesn't contain the target browser", async () => {
       globMock.mockResolvedValueOnce(['example.content.ts']);
-      importEntrypointFileMock.mockResolvedValue({
+      importEntrypointMock.mockResolvedValue({
         include: ['not' + config.browser],
       });
 
@@ -776,7 +778,7 @@ describe('findEntrypoints', () => {
   describe('exclude option', () => {
     it('should filter out the background when exclude contains the target browser', async () => {
       globMock.mockResolvedValueOnce(['background.ts']);
-      importEntrypointFileMock.mockResolvedValue({
+      importEntrypointMock.mockResolvedValue({
         exclude: [config.browser],
       });
 
@@ -787,7 +789,7 @@ describe('findEntrypoints', () => {
 
     it('should filter out content scripts when exclude contains the target browser', async () => {
       globMock.mockResolvedValueOnce(['example.content.ts']);
-      importEntrypointFileMock.mockResolvedValue({
+      importEntrypointMock.mockResolvedValue({
         exclude: [config.browser],
       });
 
@@ -850,7 +852,6 @@ describe('findEntrypoints', () => {
         'ui.content/index.ts',
         'injected.content/index.ts',
       ]);
-      importEntrypointFileMock.mockResolvedValue({});
       const filterEntrypoints = ['popup', 'ui'];
       setFakeWxt({
         config: {
@@ -860,8 +861,11 @@ describe('findEntrypoints', () => {
           command: 'build',
           filterEntrypoints: new Set(filterEntrypoints),
         },
+        builder: wxt.builder,
       });
 
+      importEntrypointMock.mockResolvedValue({});
+
       const entrypoints = await findEntrypoints();
       const names = entrypoints.map((item) => item.name);
       expect(names).toHaveLength(2);
diff --git a/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/building/find-entrypoints.ts b/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/building/find-entrypoints.ts
index af23731d..985343a2 100644
--- a/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/building/find-entrypoints.ts
+++ b/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/building/find-entrypoints.ts
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ import { VIRTUAL_NOOP_BACKGROUND_MODULE_ID } from '~/core/utils/constants';
 import { CSS_EXTENSIONS_PATTERN } from '~/core/utils/paths';
 import pc from 'picocolors';
 import { wxt } from '../../wxt';
-import { importEntrypointFile } from './import-entrypoint';
 
 /**
  * Return entrypoints and their configuration by looking through the project's files.
@@ -290,7 +289,7 @@ async function getUnlistedScriptEntrypoint({
   skipped,
 }: EntrypointInfo): Promise<GenericEntrypoint> {
   const defaultExport =
-    await importEntrypoint<UnlistedScriptDefinition>(inputPath);
+    await wxt.builder.importEntrypoint<UnlistedScriptDefinition>(inputPath);
   if (defaultExport == null) {
     throw Error(
       `${name}: Default export not found, did you forget to call "export default defineUnlistedScript(...)"?`,
@@ -315,7 +314,7 @@ async function getBackgroundEntrypoint({
   let options: Omit<BackgroundDefinition, 'main'> = {};
   if (inputPath !== VIRTUAL_NOOP_BACKGROUND_MODULE_ID) {
     const defaultExport =
-      await importEntrypoint<BackgroundDefinition>(inputPath);
+      await wxt.builder.importEntrypoint<BackgroundDefinition>(inputPath);
     if (defaultExport == null) {
       throw Error(
         `${name}: Default export not found, did you forget to call "export default defineBackground(...)"?`,
@@ -344,8 +343,15 @@ async function getContentScriptEntrypoint({
   name,
   skipped,
 }: EntrypointInfo): Promise<ContentScriptEntrypoint> {
-  const { main: _, ...options } =
-    await importEntrypoint<ContentScriptDefinition>(inputPath);
+  const defaultExport =
+    await wxt.builder.importEntrypoint<ContentScriptDefinition>(inputPath);
+  if (defaultExport == null) {
+    throw Error(
+      `${name}: Default export not found, did you forget to call "export default defineContentScript(...)"?`,
+    );
+  }
+
+  const { main: _, ...options } = defaultExport;
   if (options == null) {
     throw Error(
       `${name}: Default export not found, did you forget to call "export default defineContentScript(...)"?`,
@@ -488,9 +494,3 @@ const PATH_GLOB_TO_TYPE_MAP: Record<string, Entrypoint['type']> = {
 };
 
 const CONTENT_SCRIPT_OUT_DIR = 'content-scripts';
-
-function importEntrypoint<T>(path: string) {
-  return wxt.config.experimental.viteRuntime
-    ? wxt.builder.importEntrypoint<T>(path)
-    : importEntrypointFile<T>(path);
-}
diff --git a/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/building/resolve-config.ts b/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/building/resolve-config.ts
index fe3fd68a..ab3278b4 100644
--- a/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/building/resolve-config.ts
+++ b/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/building/resolve-config.ts
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ export async function resolveConfig(
     alias,
     experimental: defu(mergedConfig.experimental, {
       includeBrowserPolyfill: true,
-      viteRuntime: false,
+      entrypointImporter: 'jiti' as const,
     }),
     dev: {
       server: devServerConfig,
diff --git a/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/testing/fake-objects.ts b/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/testing/fake-objects.ts
index 08c13385..45d18e0e 100644
--- a/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/testing/fake-objects.ts
+++ b/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/testing/fake-objects.ts
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@ export const fakeResolvedConfig = fakeObjectCreator<ResolvedConfig>(() => {
     alias: {},
     experimental: {
       includeBrowserPolyfill: true,
-      viteRuntime: false,
+      entrypointImporter: 'jiti',
     },
     dev: {
       reloadCommand: 'Alt+R',
diff --git a/packages/wxt/src/types/index.ts b/packages/wxt/src/types/index.ts
index 3bf0063b..65a965b8 100644
--- a/packages/wxt/src/types/index.ts
+++ b/packages/wxt/src/types/index.ts
@@ -317,14 +317,17 @@ export interface InlineConfig {
      */
     includeBrowserPolyfill?: boolean;
     /**
-     * When set to `true`, use the Vite Runtime API to load entrypoint options instead of the default, `jiti`.
+     * Method used to import entrypoint files during the build process to extract their options.
      *
-     * Lets you use imported variables and leverage your Vite config to add support for non-standard APIs/syntax.
+     * - "jiti": Simplest and fastest, but doesn't allow using any imported variables outside the entrypoint's main function
+     * - "vite-runtime" (unstable): Uses Vite 5.3's new runtime API to import the entrypoints. Automatically includes vite config based on your wxt.config.ts file
+     * - "vite-node" (unstable): Uses `vite-node` to import the entrypoints. Automatically includes vite config based on your wxt.config.ts file
      *
-     * @experimental Early access to try out the feature before it becomes the default.
-     * @default false
+     * @see {@link https://wxt.dev/guide/go-further/entrypoint-side-effects.html|Entrypoint Side-effect Docs}
+     *
+     * @default "jiti"
      */
-    viteRuntime?: boolean;
+    entrypointImporter?: 'jiti' | 'vite-runtime' | 'vite-node';
   };
   /**
    * Config effecting dev mode only.
@@ -1174,7 +1177,7 @@ export interface ResolvedConfig {
   alias: Record<string, string>;
   experimental: {
     includeBrowserPolyfill: boolean;
-    viteRuntime: boolean;
+    entrypointImporter: 'jiti' | 'vite-runtime' | 'vite-node';
   };
   dev: {
     /** Only defined during dev command */
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
index 6ea6120c..f239151a 100644
--- a/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -291,6 +291,9 @@ importers:
       vite:
         specifier: ^5.3.0
         version: 5.3.0(@types/node@20.14.2)
+      vite-node:
+        specifier: ^1.6.0
+        version: 1.6.0(@types/node@20.14.2)
       web-ext-run:
         specifier: ^0.2.0
         version: 0.2.0
@@ -741,6 +744,7 @@ packages:
   /@babel/highlight@7.24.7:
     resolution: {integrity: sha512-EStJpq4OuY8xYfhGVXngigBJRWxftKX9ksiGDnmlY3o7B/V7KIAc9X4oiK87uPJSc/vs5L869bem5fhZa8caZw==}
     engines: {node: '>=6.9.0'}
+    requiresBuild: true
     dependencies:
       '@babel/helper-validator-identifier': 7.24.7
       chalk: 2.4.2
@@ -7028,7 +7032,7 @@ packages:
       spdx-expression-parse: 3.0.1
     dev: true
 
-  /vite-node@1.6.0:
+  /vite-node@1.6.0(@types/node@20.14.2):
     resolution: {integrity: sha512-de6HJgzC+TFzOu0NTC4RAIsyf/DY/ibWDYQUcuEA84EMHhcefTUGkjFHKKEJhQN4A+6I0u++kr3l36ZF2d7XRw==}
     engines: {node: ^18.0.0 || >=20.0.0}
     hasBin: true
@@ -7047,7 +7051,6 @@ packages:
       - sugarss
       - supports-color
       - terser
-    dev: true
 
   /vite-plugin-solid@2.10.2(solid-js@1.8.17)(vite@5.3.0):
     resolution: {integrity: sha512-AOEtwMe2baBSXMXdo+BUwECC8IFHcKS6WQV/1NEd+Q7vHPap5fmIhLcAzr+DUJ04/KHx/1UBU0l1/GWP+rMAPQ==}
@@ -7235,7 +7238,7 @@ packages:
       tinybench: 2.5.1
       tinypool: 0.8.4
       vite: 5.3.0(@types/node@20.14.2)
-      vite-node: 1.6.0
+      vite-node: 1.6.0(@types/node@20.14.2)
       why-is-node-running: 2.2.2
     transitivePeerDependencies:
       - less