diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/__tests__/plugins/define.spec.ts b/packages/vite/src/node/__tests__/plugins/define.spec.ts
index b85ccaf70575c0..449383530dcda7 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/node/__tests__/plugins/define.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/__tests__/plugins/define.spec.ts
@@ -39,4 +39,19 @@ describe('definePlugin', () => {
       'const isSSR = false;',
     )
   })
+
+  test('preserve import.meta.hot with override', async () => {
+    // assert that the default behavior is to replace import.meta.hot with false
+    const transform = await createDefinePluginTransform()
+    expect(await transform('const isHot = import.meta.hot;')).toBe(
+      'const isHot = false;',
+    )
+    // assert that we can specify a user define to preserve import.meta.hot
+    const overrideTransform = await createDefinePluginTransform({
+      'import.meta.hot': 'import.meta.hot',
+    })
+    expect(await overrideTransform('const isHot = import.meta.hot;')).toBe(
+      'const isHot = import.meta.hot;',
+    )
+  })
 })
diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/define.ts b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/define.ts
index ac7ab8dfa3a194..4a1b83e5390aa6 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/define.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/define.ts
@@ -45,13 +45,14 @@ export function definePlugin(config: ResolvedConfig): Plugin {
       ...config.env,
       SSR: !!config.build.ssr,
     }
+    // set here to allow override with config.define
+    importMetaKeys['import.meta.hot'] = `false`
     for (const key in env) {
       importMetaKeys[`import.meta.env.${key}`] = JSON.stringify(env[key])
     }
     Object.assign(importMetaFallbackKeys, {
       'import.meta.env.': `({}).`,
       'import.meta.env': JSON.stringify(config.env),
-      'import.meta.hot': `false`,
     })
   }