diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/__tests__/env.spec.ts b/packages/vite/src/node/__tests__/env.spec.ts
index 4e2a88f95b1665..f1e74bc0193cfc 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/node/__tests__/env.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/__tests__/env.spec.ts
@@ -9,14 +9,15 @@ describe('loadEnv', () => {
   test('basic', () => {
     expect(loadEnv('development', join(__dirname, './env')))
       .toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
-      {
-        "VITE_APP_BASE_ROUTE": "/",
-        "VITE_APP_BASE_URL": "/",
-        "VITE_ENV1": "ENV1",
-        "VITE_ENV2": "ENV2",
-        "VITE_ENV3": "ENV3",
-      }
-    `)
+        {
+          "VITE_APP_BASE_ROUTE": "/",
+          "VITE_APP_BASE_URL": "/",
+          "VITE_ENV1": "ENV1",
+          "VITE_ENV2": "ENV2",
+          "VITE_ENV3": "ENV3",
+          "VITE_USER_NODE_ENV": "production",
+        }
+      `)
   })
 
   test('specific prefix', () => {
@@ -50,4 +51,17 @@ describe('loadEnv', () => {
     loadEnv('development', join(__dirname, './env'))
     expect(process.env.VITE_USER_NODE_ENV).toEqual('test')
   })
+
+  test('prioritize existing process.env', () => {
+    process.env.VITE_ENV_TEST_ENV = 'EXIST'
+    expect(loadEnv('existing', join(__dirname, './env')))
+      .toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
+        {
+          "VITE_APP_BASE_ROUTE": "/",
+          "VITE_APP_BASE_URL": "/",
+          "VITE_ENV_TEST_ENV": "EXIST",
+          "VITE_USER_NODE_ENV": "test",
+        }
+      `)
+  })
 })
diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/__tests__/env/.env.existing b/packages/vite/src/node/__tests__/env/.env.existing
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..b46d6e30f8c5f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/__tests__/env/.env.existing
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+VITE_ENV_TEST_ENV=DOTENV
diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/env.ts b/packages/vite/src/node/env.ts
index a69be1ed233043..8d39707ddd7455 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/node/env.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/env.ts
@@ -24,17 +24,6 @@ export function loadEnv(
     /** mode local file */ `.env.${mode}.local`
   ]
 
-  // check if there are actual env variables starting with VITE_*
-  // these are typically provided inline and should be prioritized
-  for (const key in process.env) {
-    if (
-      prefixes.some((prefix) => key.startsWith(prefix)) &&
-      env[key] === undefined
-    ) {
-      env[key] = process.env[key] as string
-    }
-  }
-
   const parsed = Object.fromEntries(
     envFiles.flatMap((file) => {
       const path = lookupFile(envDir, [file], {
@@ -69,6 +58,15 @@ export function loadEnv(
       process.env.VITE_USER_NODE_ENV = value
     }
   }
+
+  // check if there are actual env variables starting with VITE_*
+  // these are typically provided inline and should be prioritized
+  for (const key in process.env) {
+    if (prefixes.some((prefix) => key.startsWith(prefix))) {
+      env[key] = process.env[key] as string
+    }
+  }
+
   return env
 }