diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/node/project.ts b/packages/vitest/src/node/project.ts
index efdec524be23..c6843627db34 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/node/project.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/node/project.ts
@@ -516,13 +516,20 @@ export class TestProject {
       this.vitest.version,
     )
     const { createBrowserServer, distRoot } = await import('@vitest/browser')
+    let cacheDir: string
     const browser = await createBrowserServer(
       this,
       this.vite.config.configFile,
       [
+        {
+          name: 'vitest:browser-cacheDir',
+          configResolved(config) {
+            cacheDir = config.cacheDir
+          },
+        },
         ...MocksPlugins({
           filter(id) {
-            if (id.includes(distRoot) || id.includes(browser.vite.config.cacheDir)) {
+            if (id.includes(distRoot) || id.includes(cacheDir)) {
               return false
             }
             return true
diff --git a/test/browser/vitest.config.mts b/test/browser/vitest.config.mts
index 7f7e784d3e14..b007a4ab9c33 100644
--- a/test/browser/vitest.config.mts
+++ b/test/browser/vitest.config.mts
@@ -117,5 +117,11 @@ export default defineConfig({
         }
       },
     },
+    {
+      name: 'test-early-transform',
+      async configureServer(server) {
+        await server.ssrLoadModule('/package.json')
+      },
+    },
   ],
 })