diff --git a/packages/vite-node/src/cli.ts b/packages/vite-node/src/cli.ts
index 05da28f7673a..47c47bddf7ff 100644
--- a/packages/vite-node/src/cli.ts
+++ b/packages/vite-node/src/cli.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import { version } from '../package.json'
 import { ViteNodeServer } from './server'
 import { ViteNodeRunner } from './client'
 import type { ViteNodeServerOptions } from './types'
+import { toArray } from './utils'
 
 const cli = cac('vite-node')
 
@@ -93,12 +94,12 @@ function parseServerOptions(serverOptions: ViteNodeServerOptionsCLI): ViteNodeSe
     ...serverOptions,
     deps: {
       ...serverOptions.deps,
-      inline: serverOptions.deps?.inline?.map((dep) => {
+      inline: toArray(serverOptions.deps?.inline).map((dep) => {
         return dep.startsWith('/') && dep.endsWith('/')
           ? new RegExp(dep)
           : dep
       }),
-      external: serverOptions.deps?.external?.map((dep) => {
+      external: toArray(serverOptions.deps?.external).map((dep) => {
         return dep.startsWith('/') && dep.endsWith('/')
           ? new RegExp(dep)
           : dep
@@ -108,8 +109,8 @@ function parseServerOptions(serverOptions: ViteNodeServerOptionsCLI): ViteNodeSe
     transformMode: {
       ...serverOptions.transformMode,
 
-      ssr: serverOptions.transformMode?.ssr?.map(dep => new RegExp(dep)),
-      web: serverOptions.transformMode?.ssr?.map(dep => new RegExp(dep)),
+      ssr: toArray(serverOptions.transformMode?.ssr).map(dep => new RegExp(dep)),
+      web: toArray(serverOptions.transformMode?.web).map(dep => new RegExp(dep)),
     },
   }
 }
@@ -117,9 +118,9 @@ function parseServerOptions(serverOptions: ViteNodeServerOptionsCLI): ViteNodeSe
 type Optional<T> = T | undefined
 type ComputeViteNodeServerOptionsCLI<T extends Record<string, any>> = {
   [K in keyof T]: T[K] extends Optional<RegExp[]>
-    ? string[]
+    ? string | string[]
     : T[K] extends Optional<(string | RegExp)[]>
-      ? string[]
+      ? string | string[]
       : T[K] extends Optional<Record<string, any>>
         ? ComputeViteNodeServerOptionsCLI<T[K]>
         : T[K]
diff --git a/packages/vite-node/src/types.ts b/packages/vite-node/src/types.ts
index 06666b4c2cb6..0a4defce4fe5 100644
--- a/packages/vite-node/src/types.ts
+++ b/packages/vite-node/src/types.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 import type { ModuleCacheMap } from './client'
 
+export type Nullable<T> = T | null | undefined
+export type Arrayable<T> = T | Array<T>
+
 export interface DepsHandlingOptions {
   external?: (string | RegExp)[]
   inline?: (string | RegExp)[]
diff --git a/packages/vite-node/src/utils.ts b/packages/vite-node/src/utils.ts
index 54fbcc696121..2157a594e3d9 100644
--- a/packages/vite-node/src/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/vite-node/src/utils.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { fileURLToPath, pathToFileURL } from 'url'
 import { dirname, resolve } from 'pathe'
 import type { TransformResult } from 'vite'
+import type { Arrayable, Nullable } from './types'
 
 export const isWindows = process.platform === 'win32'
 
@@ -74,3 +75,18 @@ export async function withInlineSourcemap(result: TransformResult) {
 
   return result
 }
+
+/**
+ * Convert `Arrayable<T>` to `Array<T>`
+ *
+ * @category Array
+ */
+export function toArray<T>(array?: Nullable<Arrayable<T>>): Array<T> {
+  if (array === null || array === undefined)
+    array = []
+
+  if (Array.isArray(array))
+    return array
+
+  return [array]
+}