diff --git a/docs/config/shared-options.md b/docs/config/shared-options.md
index 774c35df42a5a5..c6a14b24cbc830 100644
--- a/docs/config/shared-options.md
+++ b/docs/config/shared-options.md
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ export default defineConfig({
 })
 ```
 
-When [`build.minify`](./build-options.md#build-minify) is `true`, you can configure to only minify [certain aspects](https://esbuild.github.io/api/#minify) of the code by setting either of `esbuild.minifyIdentifiers`, `esbuild.minifySyntax`, and `esbuild.minifyWhitespace` to `true`. Note the `esbuild.minify` option can't be used to override `build.minify`.
+When [`build.minify`](./build-options.md#build-minify) is `true`, all minify optimizations are applied by default. To disable [certain aspects](https://esbuild.github.io/api/#minify) of it, set any of `esbuild.minifyIdentifiers`, `esbuild.minifySyntax`, or `esbuild.minifyWhitespace` options to `false`. Note the `esbuild.minify` option can't be used to override `build.minify`.
 
 Set to `false` to disable esbuild transforms.
 
diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/__tests__/plugins/esbuild.spec.ts b/packages/vite/src/node/__tests__/plugins/esbuild.spec.ts
index 50e9183b46e64c..5f063301799cff 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/node/__tests__/plugins/esbuild.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/__tests__/plugins/esbuild.spec.ts
@@ -41,6 +41,31 @@ describe('resolveEsbuildTranspileOptions', () => {
     expect(options).toEqual(null)
   })
 
+  test('resolve specific minify options', () => {
+    const options = resolveEsbuildTranspileOptions(
+      defineResolvedConfig({
+        build: {
+          minify: 'esbuild'
+        },
+        esbuild: {
+          keepNames: true,
+          minifyIdentifiers: false
+        }
+      }),
+      'es'
+    )
+    expect(options).toEqual({
+      target: undefined,
+      format: 'esm',
+      keepNames: true,
+      minify: false,
+      minifyIdentifiers: false,
+      minifySyntax: true,
+      minifyWhitespace: true,
+      treeShaking: true
+    })
+  })
+
   test('resolve no minify', () => {
     const options = resolveEsbuildTranspileOptions(
       defineResolvedConfig({
@@ -140,6 +165,7 @@ describe('resolveEsbuildTranspileOptions', () => {
       keepNames: true,
       minify: false,
       minifyIdentifiers: true,
+      minifySyntax: true,
       minifyWhitespace: false,
       treeShaking: true
     })
@@ -157,7 +183,7 @@ describe('resolveEsbuildTranspileOptions', () => {
         esbuild: {
           keepNames: true,
           minifyIdentifiers: true,
-          minifyWhitespace: true,
+          minifySyntax: false,
           treeShaking: true
         }
       }),
@@ -169,6 +195,7 @@ describe('resolveEsbuildTranspileOptions', () => {
       keepNames: true,
       minify: false,
       minifyIdentifiers: true,
+      minifySyntax: false,
       minifyWhitespace: true,
       treeShaking: true
     })
diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/css.ts b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/css.ts
index 01c72d0c24edcc..50a835e9ad707c 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/css.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/css.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import type Sass from 'sass'
 import type Stylus from 'stylus'
 import type Less from 'less'
 import type { Alias } from 'types/alias'
+import type { TransformOptions } from 'esbuild'
 import { formatMessages, transform } from 'esbuild'
 import type { RawSourceMap } from '@ampproject/remapping'
 import { getCodeWithSourcemap, injectSourcesContent } from '../server/sourcemap'
@@ -55,6 +56,7 @@ import {
   publicFileToBuiltUrl,
   resolveAssetFileNames
 } from './asset'
+import type { ESBuildOptions } from './esbuild'
 
 // const debug = createDebugger('vite:css')
 
@@ -1211,8 +1213,8 @@ async function minifyCSS(css: string, config: ResolvedConfig) {
   try {
     const { code, warnings } = await transform(css, {
       loader: 'css',
-      minify: true,
-      target: config.build.cssTarget || undefined
+      target: config.build.cssTarget || undefined,
+      ...resolveEsbuildMinifyOptions(config.esbuild || {})
     })
     if (warnings.length) {
       const msgs = await formatMessages(warnings, { kind: 'warning' })
@@ -1231,6 +1233,24 @@ async function minifyCSS(css: string, config: ResolvedConfig) {
   }
 }
 
+function resolveEsbuildMinifyOptions(
+  options: ESBuildOptions
+): TransformOptions {
+  if (
+    options.minifyIdentifiers != null ||
+    options.minifySyntax != null ||
+    options.minifyWhitespace != null
+  ) {
+    return {
+      minifyIdentifiers: options.minifyIdentifiers ?? true,
+      minifySyntax: options.minifySyntax ?? true,
+      minifyWhitespace: options.minifyWhitespace ?? true
+    }
+  } else {
+    return { minify: true }
+  }
+}
+
 export async function hoistAtRules(css: string): Promise<string> {
   const s = new MagicString(css)
   const cleanCss = emptyCssComments(css)
diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/esbuild.ts b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/esbuild.ts
index ee1c36db651849..42e5bbac76316a 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/esbuild.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/esbuild.ts
@@ -318,15 +318,17 @@ export function resolveEsbuildTranspileOptions(
 
   // If user enable fine-grain minify options, minify with their options instead
   if (
-    options.minifyIdentifiers ||
-    options.minifySyntax ||
-    options.minifyWhitespace
+    options.minifyIdentifiers != null ||
+    options.minifySyntax != null ||
+    options.minifyWhitespace != null
   ) {
     if (isEsLibBuild) {
       // Disable minify whitespace as it breaks tree-shaking
       return {
         ...options,
         minify: false,
+        minifyIdentifiers: options.minifyIdentifiers ?? true,
+        minifySyntax: options.minifySyntax ?? true,
         minifyWhitespace: false,
         treeShaking: true
       }
@@ -334,6 +336,9 @@ export function resolveEsbuildTranspileOptions(
       return {
         ...options,
         minify: false,
+        minifyIdentifiers: options.minifyIdentifiers ?? true,
+        minifySyntax: options.minifySyntax ?? true,
+        minifyWhitespace: options.minifyWhitespace ?? true,
         treeShaking: true
       }
     }
diff --git a/playground/minify/__tests__/minify.spec.ts b/playground/minify/__tests__/minify.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..b8d4e458e968b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/playground/minify/__tests__/minify.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import fs from 'node:fs'
+import path from 'node:path'
+import { expect, test } from 'vitest'
+import { isBuild, readFile, testDir } from '~utils'
+
+test.runIf(isBuild)('no minifySyntax', () => {
+  const assetsDir = path.resolve(testDir, 'dist/assets')
+  const files = fs.readdirSync(assetsDir)
+
+  const jsFile = files.find((f) => f.endsWith('.js'))
+  const jsContent = readFile(path.resolve(assetsDir, jsFile))
+
+  const cssFile = files.find((f) => f.endsWith('.css'))
+  const cssContent = readFile(path.resolve(assetsDir, cssFile))
+
+  expect(jsContent).toContain('{console.log("hello world")}')
+  expect(cssContent).toContain('color:#ff0000')
+})
diff --git a/playground/minify/index.html b/playground/minify/index.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..1b599018cd92b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/playground/minify/index.html
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+<h1>Minify</h1>
+
+<script type="module" src="./main.js"></script>
diff --git a/playground/minify/main.js b/playground/minify/main.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..e77c8a997b3314
--- /dev/null
+++ b/playground/minify/main.js
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+import './test.css'
+
+if (window) {
+  console.log('hello world')
+}
diff --git a/playground/minify/package.json b/playground/minify/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..e46abf8c4b218c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/playground/minify/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+{
+  "name": "test-minify",
+  "private": true,
+  "version": "0.0.0",
+  "scripts": {
+    "dev": "vite",
+    "build": "vite build",
+    "debug": "node --inspect-brk ../../packages/vite/bin/vite",
+    "preview": "vite preview"
+  }
+}
diff --git a/playground/minify/test.css b/playground/minify/test.css
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..dab6f886b3cf82
--- /dev/null
+++ b/playground/minify/test.css
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+h1 {
+  /* do not minify as red text */
+  color: #ff0000;
+}
diff --git a/playground/minify/vite.config.js b/playground/minify/vite.config.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..43eca91a5c0f30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/playground/minify/vite.config.js
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+import { defineConfig } from 'vite'
+
+export default defineConfig({
+  esbuild: {
+    minifySyntax: false
+  }
+})