diff --git a/packages/vite-node/src/externalize.ts b/packages/vite-node/src/externalize.ts
index bfce22bf50fe..eb39b678658e 100644
--- a/packages/vite-node/src/externalize.ts
+++ b/packages/vite-node/src/externalize.ts
@@ -59,6 +59,11 @@ async function _shouldExternalize(
   if (isNodeBuiltin(id))
     return id
 
+  // data: should be processed by native import,
+  // since it is a feature of ESM
+  if (id.startsWith('data:'))
+    return id
+
   id = patchWindowsImportPath(id)
 
   if (matchExternalizePattern(id, options?.inline))
diff --git a/test/core/test/imports.test.ts b/test/core/test/imports.test.ts
index 6820922cac98..58f6c6e552c0 100644
--- a/test/core/test/imports.test.ts
+++ b/test/core/test/imports.test.ts
@@ -26,3 +26,9 @@ test('dynamic absolute import works', async() => {
 
   expect(timeout).toBe(dynamicTimeout)
 })
+
+test('data with dynamic import works', async() => {
+  const dataUri = 'data:text/javascript;charset=utf-8,export default "hi"'
+  const { default: hi } = await import(dataUri)
+  expect(hi).toBe('hi')
+})