diff --git a/packages/playground/define/__tests__/define.spec.ts b/packages/playground/define/__tests__/define.spec.ts
index 93ba1ca198fbcc..709f7a935dc8c1 100644
--- a/packages/playground/define/__tests__/define.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/playground/define/__tests__/define.spec.ts
@@ -22,4 +22,5 @@ test('string', async () => {
   )
   // html would't need to define replacement
   expect(await page.textContent('.exp-define')).toBe('__EXP__')
+  expect(await page.textContent('.import-json')).toBe('__EXP__')
 })
diff --git a/packages/playground/define/data.json b/packages/playground/define/data.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..491b781c2d97d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/playground/define/data.json
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{
+  "foo": "__EXP__"
+}
diff --git a/packages/playground/define/index.html b/packages/playground/define/index.html
index 4788ec9f2d2a57..da78d192216b11 100644
--- a/packages/playground/define/index.html
+++ b/packages/playground/define/index.html
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ <h1>Define</h1>
 <p>spread object: <code class="spread-object"></code></p>
 <p>spread array: <code class="spread-array"></code></p>
 <p>define variable in html: <code class="exp-define">__EXP__</code></p>
+<p>import json: <code class="import-json"></code></p>
 
 <script type="module">
   const __VAR_NAME__ = true // ensure define doesn't replace var name
@@ -28,6 +29,9 @@ <h1>Define</h1>
   )
   text('.spread-array', JSON.stringify([...`"${__STRING__}"`]))
 
+  import dataJson from './data.json'
+  text('.import-json', dataJson.foo)
+
   function text(el, text) {
     document.querySelector(el).textContent = text
   }
diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/define.ts b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/define.ts
index 27c4b82f9b379e..c987e0f80fd46e 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/define.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/define.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ import type { Plugin } from '../plugin'
 import { isCSSRequest } from './css'
 import { isHTMLRequest } from './html'
 
+const nonJsRe = /\.(json)($|\?)/
+const isNonJsRequest = (request: string): boolean => nonJsRe.test(request)
+
 export function definePlugin(config: ResolvedConfig): Plugin {
   const isBuild = config.command === 'build'
 
@@ -99,6 +102,7 @@ export function definePlugin(config: ResolvedConfig): Plugin {
         // exclude html, css and static assets for performance
         isHTMLRequest(id) ||
         isCSSRequest(id) ||
+        isNonJsRequest(id) ||
         config.assetsInclude(id)
       ) {
         return