diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/resolve.ts b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/resolve.ts
index af86ef76193c92..d82e1dc6bc63ac 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/resolve.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/resolve.ts
@@ -656,6 +656,10 @@ export function tryNodeResolve(
     if (!externalize) {
       return resolved
     }
+    // dont external symlink packages
+    if (!resolved.id.includes('node_modules')) {
+      return
+    }
     const resolvedExt = path.extname(resolved.id)
     let resolvedId = id
     if (isDeepImport) {
diff --git a/playground/ssr-deps/__tests__/ssr-deps.spec.ts b/playground/ssr-deps/__tests__/ssr-deps.spec.ts
index 2d1066cade3374..8f4e097aec1c81 100644
--- a/playground/ssr-deps/__tests__/ssr-deps.spec.ts
+++ b/playground/ssr-deps/__tests__/ssr-deps.spec.ts
@@ -98,3 +98,8 @@ test('msg from external using external entry', async () => {
     'Hello World!'
   )
 })
+
+test('msg from linked no external', async () => {
+  await page.goto(url)
+  expect(await page.textContent('.linked-no-external')).toMatch('Hello World!')
+})
diff --git a/playground/ssr-deps/linked-no-external/index.js b/playground/ssr-deps/linked-no-external/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..8322345e2aa5df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/playground/ssr-deps/linked-no-external/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+export const hello = function () {
+  // make sure linked package is not externalized so Vite features like
+  // import.meta.env works (or handling TS files)
+  return import.meta.env.DEV && 'Hello World!'
+}
diff --git a/playground/ssr-deps/linked-no-external/package.json b/playground/ssr-deps/linked-no-external/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..40f16209737cb8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/playground/ssr-deps/linked-no-external/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+{
+  "name": "linked-no-external",
+  "private": true,
+  "type": "module",
+  "version": "0.0.0"
+}
diff --git a/playground/ssr-deps/package.json b/playground/ssr-deps/package.json
index 9bf13cc84af69a..20f840d0f27133 100644
--- a/playground/ssr-deps/package.json
+++ b/playground/ssr-deps/package.json
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@
     "optimized-with-nested-external": "file:./optimized-with-nested-external",
     "optimized-cjs-with-nested-external": "file:./optimized-with-nested-external",
     "external-using-external-entry": "file:./external-using-external-entry",
-    "external-entry": "file:./external-entry"
+    "external-entry": "file:./external-entry",
+    "linked-no-external": "link:./linked-no-external"
   },
   "devDependencies": {
     "cross-env": "^7.0.3",
diff --git a/playground/ssr-deps/src/app.js b/playground/ssr-deps/src/app.js
index 509c6de7ee4c36..987eaa3e1b43e9 100644
--- a/playground/ssr-deps/src/app.js
+++ b/playground/ssr-deps/src/app.js
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import onlyObjectAssignedExports from 'only-object-assigned-exports'
 import requireAbsolute from 'require-absolute'
 import noExternalCjs from 'no-external-cjs'
 import importBuiltinCjs from 'import-builtin-cjs'
+import { hello as linkedNoExternal } from 'linked-no-external'
 
 // This import will set a 'Hello World!" message in the nested-external non-entry dependency
 import 'non-optimized-with-nested-external'
@@ -75,5 +76,8 @@ export async function render(url, rootDir) {
   const externalUsingExternalEntryMessage = externalUsingExternalEntry.hello()
   html += `\n<p class="external-using-external-entry">message from external-using-external-entry: ${externalUsingExternalEntryMessage}</p>`
 
+  const linkedNoExternalMessage = linkedNoExternal()
+  html += `\n<p class="linked-no-external">message from linked-no-external: ${linkedNoExternalMessage}</p>`
+
   return html + '\n'
 }
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
index 5e568e34d60eb8..74c0cc0cb09e17 100644
--- a/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -907,6 +907,7 @@ importers:
       external-using-external-entry: file:./external-using-external-entry
       forwarded-export: file:./forwarded-export
       import-builtin-cjs: file:./import-builtin-cjs
+      linked-no-external: link:./linked-no-external
       no-external-cjs: file:./no-external-cjs
       no-external-css: file:./no-external-css
       non-optimized-with-nested-external: file:./non-optimized-with-nested-external
@@ -926,6 +927,7 @@ importers:
       external-using-external-entry: file:playground/ssr-deps/external-using-external-entry
       forwarded-export: file:playground/ssr-deps/forwarded-export
       import-builtin-cjs: file:playground/ssr-deps/import-builtin-cjs
+      linked-no-external: link:linked-no-external
       no-external-cjs: file:playground/ssr-deps/no-external-cjs
       no-external-css: file:playground/ssr-deps/no-external-css
       non-optimized-with-nested-external: file:playground/ssr-deps/non-optimized-with-nested-external
@@ -965,6 +967,9 @@ importers:
   playground/ssr-deps/import-builtin-cjs:
     specifiers: {}
 
+  playground/ssr-deps/linked-no-external:
+    specifiers: {}
+
   playground/ssr-deps/nested-external:
     specifiers: {}