diff --git a/packages/vite-node/src/externalize.ts b/packages/vite-node/src/externalize.ts
index c6f5007bfaed..b388593a5719 100644
--- a/packages/vite-node/src/externalize.ts
+++ b/packages/vite-node/src/externalize.ts
@@ -3,12 +3,51 @@ import { isNodeBuiltin, isValidNodeImport } from 'mlly'
 import type { DepsHandlingOptions } from './types'
 import { slash } from './utils'
 
+const KNOWN_ASSET_TYPES = [
+  // images
+  'png',
+  'jpe?g',
+  'jfif',
+  'pjpeg',
+  'pjp',
+  'gif',
+  'svg',
+  'ico',
+  'webp',
+  'avif',
+
+  // media
+  'mp4',
+  'webm',
+  'ogg',
+  'mp3',
+  'wav',
+  'flac',
+  'aac',
+
+  // fonts
+  'woff2?',
+  'eot',
+  'ttf',
+  'otf',
+
+  // other
+  'webmanifest',
+  'pdf',
+  'txt',
+]
+
 const ESM_EXT_RE = /\.(es|esm|esm-browser|esm-bundler|es6|module)\.js$/
 const ESM_FOLDER_RE = /\/(es|esm)\/(.*\.js)$/
 
 const defaultInline = [
   /virtual:/,
   /\.[mc]?ts$/,
+
+  // special Vite query strings
+  /[?&](init|raw|url|inline)\b/,
+  // Vite returns a string for assets imports, even if it's inside "node_modules"
+  new RegExp(`\\.(${KNOWN_ASSET_TYPES.join('|')})$`),
 ]
 
 const depsExternal = [
diff --git a/packages/vite-node/src/utils.ts b/packages/vite-node/src/utils.ts
index c98ef475c24d..e11f22f6ffaf 100644
--- a/packages/vite-node/src/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/vite-node/src/utils.ts
@@ -9,10 +9,6 @@ export function slash(str: string) {
   return str.replace(/\\/g, '/')
 }
 
-export function mergeSlashes(str: string) {
-  return str.replace(/\/\//g, '/')
-}
-
 export const VALID_ID_PREFIX = '/@id/'
 
 export function normalizeRequestId(id: string, base?: string): string {
diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/node/plugins/cssEnabler.ts b/packages/vitest/src/node/plugins/cssEnabler.ts
index fda273615eb6..43d151a11bce 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/node/plugins/cssEnabler.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/node/plugins/cssEnabler.ts
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ export function CSSEnablerPlugin(ctx: Vitest): VitePlugin[] {
           return { code }
         }
 
-        return { code: '' }
+        return { code: 'export default ""' }
       },
     },
   ]
diff --git a/test/core/test/imports.test.ts b/test/core/test/imports.test.ts
index 9ec6e9a34f8f..eed2418e2640 100644
--- a/test/core/test/imports.test.ts
+++ b/test/core/test/imports.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
-import { expect, test } from 'vitest'
+import { mkdir, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises'
+import { resolve } from 'pathe'
+import { describe, expect, test } from 'vitest'
 import { dynamicRelativeImport } from '../src/relative-import'
 
 test('dynamic relative import works', async () => {
@@ -67,3 +69,42 @@ test('can import @vite/client', async () => {
   await expect(import(name)).resolves.not.toThrow()
   await expect(import(`/${name}`)).resolves.not.toThrow()
 })
+
+describe('importing special files from node_modules', async () => {
+  const dir = resolve(__dirname, '../src/node_modules')
+  const wasm = resolve(dir, 'file.wasm')
+  const css = resolve(dir, 'file.css')
+  const mp3 = resolve(dir, 'file.mp3')
+  await mkdir(dir, { recursive: true })
+  await Promise.all([
+    writeFile(wasm, '(module)'),
+    writeFile(css, '.foo { color: red; }'),
+    writeFile(mp3, ''),
+  ])
+  const importModule = (path: string) => import(path)
+
+  test('importing wasm with ?url query', async () => {
+    const mod = await importModule('../src/node_modules/file.wasm?url')
+    expect(mod.default).toBe('/src/node_modules/file.wasm')
+  })
+
+  test('importing wasm with ?raw query', async () => {
+    const mod = await importModule('../src/node_modules/file.wasm?raw')
+    expect(mod.default).toBe('(module)')
+  })
+
+  test('importing wasm with ?init query', async () => {
+    const mod = await importModule('../src/node_modules/file.wasm?init')
+    expect(mod.default).toBeTypeOf('function')
+  })
+
+  test('importing css with ?inline query', async () => {
+    const mod = await importModule('../src/node_modules/file.css?inline')
+    expect(mod.default).toBeTypeOf('string')
+  })
+
+  test('importing asset returns a string', async () => {
+    const mod = await importModule('../src/node_modules/file.mp3')
+    expect(mod.default).toBe('/src/node_modules/file.mp3')
+  })
+})