diff --git a/docs/config/index.md b/docs/config/index.md
index 55dc13f82cbcbf..5cd1a23774400c 100644
--- a/docs/config/index.md
+++ b/docs/config/index.md
@@ -718,7 +718,7 @@ createServer()
   ```js
   export default defineConfig({
     optimizeDeps: {
-      include: ['esm-dep/node_modules/cjs-dep']
+      include: ['esm-dep > cjs-dep']
     }
   })
   ```
diff --git a/packages/playground/nested-deps/vite.config.js b/packages/playground/nested-deps/vite.config.js
index c58fa180dc06a5..cc3bcb2ada226b 100644
--- a/packages/playground/nested-deps/vite.config.js
+++ b/packages/playground/nested-deps/vite.config.js
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ module.exports = {
       'test-package-b',
       'test-package-c',
       'test-package-c/side',
-      'test-package-d/node_modules/test-package-d-nested'
+      'test-package-d    > test-package-d-nested'
     ],
     exclude: ['test-package-d']
   }
diff --git a/packages/playground/optimize-deps/vite.config.js b/packages/playground/optimize-deps/vite.config.js
index 45a8d44db96487..94c308a000cfab 100644
--- a/packages/playground/optimize-deps/vite.config.js
+++ b/packages/playground/optimize-deps/vite.config.js
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ module.exports = {
       'dep-linked-include',
       // required since it isn't in node_modules and is ignored by the optimizer otherwise
       'dep-esbuild-plugin-transform',
-      'nested-exclude/node_modules/nested-include'
+      'nested-exclude>nested-include'
     ],
     exclude: ['nested-exclude'],
     esbuildOptions: {
diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/optimizer/index.ts b/packages/vite/src/node/optimizer/index.ts
index 5b899b758ccd33..274f7634dea2ae 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/node/optimizer/index.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/optimizer/index.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@ import {
   lookupFile,
   normalizePath,
   writeFile,
-  flattenId
+  flattenId,
+  normalizeId
 } from '../utils'
 import { esbuildDepPlugin } from './esbuildDepPlugin'
 import { ImportSpecifier, init, parse } from 'es-module-lexer'
@@ -184,10 +185,13 @@ export async function optimizeDeps(
   if (include) {
     const resolve = config.createResolver({ asSrc: false })
     for (const id of include) {
-      if (!deps[id]) {
+      // normalize 'foo   >bar` as 'foo > bar' to prevent same id being added
+      // and for pretty printing
+      const normalizedId = normalizeId(id)
+      if (!deps[normalizedId]) {
         const entry = await resolve(id)
         if (entry) {
-          deps[id] = entry
+          deps[normalizedId] = entry
         } else {
           throw new Error(
             `Failed to resolve force included dependency: ${chalk.cyan(id)}`
diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/resolve.ts b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/resolve.ts
index 8b9baf149c3d12..8b03d363ad40f4 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/resolve.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/resolve.ts
@@ -391,10 +391,12 @@ export function tryNodeResolve(
 ): PartialResolvedId | undefined {
   const { root, dedupe, isBuild } = options
 
-  // split id by "node_modules" to get actual nested package name
-  const nodeModulesMatch = id.match(/(.+)\/node_modules\/(.+)/)
-  const nestedRoot = nodeModulesMatch ? nodeModulesMatch[1] : ''
-  const nestedPath = nodeModulesMatch ? nodeModulesMatch[2] : id
+  // split id by last '>' for nested selected packages, for example:
+  // 'foo > bar > baz' => 'foo > bar' & 'baz'
+  // 'foo'             => ''          & 'foo'
+  const lastArrowIndex = id.lastIndexOf('>')
+  const nestedRoot = id.substring(0, lastArrowIndex).trim()
+  const nestedPath = id.substring(lastArrowIndex + 1).trim()
 
   // check for deep import, e.g. "my-lib/foo"
   const deepMatch = nestedPath.match(deepImportRE)
@@ -415,7 +417,7 @@ export function tryNodeResolve(
   }
 
   // nested node module, step-by-step resolve to the basedir of the nestedPath
-  if (nodeModulesMatch) {
+  if (nestedRoot) {
     basedir = nestedResolveFrom(nestedRoot, basedir)
   }
 
@@ -509,7 +511,7 @@ export function tryOptimizedResolve(
 
   for (const [pkgPath, optimizedData] of Object.entries(depData.optimized)) {
     // check for scenarios, e.g.
-    //   pkgPath  => "my-lib/node_modules/foo"
+    //   pkgPath  => "my-lib > foo"
     //   id       => "foo"
     // this narrows the need to do a full resolve
     if (!pkgPath.endsWith(id)) continue
diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/utils.ts b/packages/vite/src/node/utils.ts
index e436adfaa4eecd..3b4b8c34545913 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/node/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/utils.ts
@@ -31,7 +31,10 @@ export function unwrapId(id: string): string {
 }
 
 export const flattenId = (id: string): string =>
-  id.replace(/\/node_modules\//g, '__').replace(/[\/\.]/g, '_')
+  id.replace(/(\s*>\s*)/g, '__').replace(/[\/\.]/g, '_')
+
+export const normalizeId = (id: string): string =>
+  id.replace(/(\s*>\s*)/g, ' > ')
 
 export function isBuiltin(id: string): boolean {
   return builtins.includes(id)
@@ -57,10 +60,11 @@ export function resolveFrom(id: string, basedir: string, ssr = false): string {
 }
 
 /**
- * like `resolveFrom` but supports resolving `node_modules` path in `id`
+ * like `resolveFrom` but supports resolving `>` path in `id`,
+ * for example: `foo > bar > baz`
  */
 export function nestedResolveFrom(id: string, basedir: string): string {
-  const pkgs = id.split('/node_modules/')
+  const pkgs = id.split('>').map((pkg) => pkg.trim())
   try {
     for (const pkg of pkgs) {
       basedir = resolveFrom(pkg, basedir)