diff --git a/code/lib/vite-plugin-storybook-nextjs/src/index.test.ts b/code/lib/vite-plugin-storybook-nextjs/src/index.test.ts
index c122c485f68b..580117af3852 100644
--- a/code/lib/vite-plugin-storybook-nextjs/src/index.test.ts
+++ b/code/lib/vite-plugin-storybook-nextjs/src/index.test.ts
@@ -145,5 +145,11 @@ describe('VitePlugin', () => {
       },
     });
     expect(config?.resolve).not.toHaveProperty('alias');
+    expect(config?.test?.alias).toEqual(
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        'next/dist/compiled/react': '/resolved/next/dist/compiled',
+        'next/dist/compiled/react-dom': '/resolved/next/dist/compiled',
+      })
+    );
   });
 });
diff --git a/code/lib/vite-plugin-storybook-nextjs/src/index.ts b/code/lib/vite-plugin-storybook-nextjs/src/index.ts
index d24919ea0fa4..4580378b7fcd 100644
--- a/code/lib/vite-plugin-storybook-nextjs/src/index.ts
+++ b/code/lib/vite-plugin-storybook-nextjs/src/index.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { resolve } from 'pathe';
+import { dirname, resolve } from 'pathe';
 
 import { createRequire } from 'node:module';
 import type { NextConfigComplete } from 'next/dist/server/config-shared.js';
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ import {
 import { loadNextConfig } from './utils/next-config.ts';
 
 const require = createRequire(import.meta.url);
+const compiledReactDir = dirname(require.resolve('next/dist/compiled/react'));
+const compiledReactDomDir = dirname(require.resolve('next/dist/compiled/react-dom'));
 
 export type PluginOptions = {
   /**
@@ -167,6 +169,8 @@ function VitePlugin({ dir = process.cwd(), image }: PluginOptions = {}): PluginO
           },
           test: {
             alias: {
+              'next/dist/compiled/react': compiledReactDir,
+              'next/dist/compiled/react-dom': compiledReactDomDir,
               'react/jsx-dev-runtime':
                 require.resolve('next/dist/compiled/react/jsx-dev-runtime.js'),
               'react/jsx-runtime': require.resolve('next/dist/compiled/react/jsx-runtime.js'),
diff --git a/code/lib/vite-plugin-storybook-nextjs/src/utils/next-config.test.ts b/code/lib/vite-plugin-storybook-nextjs/src/utils/next-config.test.ts
index 117ed24d9497..687f0cb08ff7 100644
--- a/code/lib/vite-plugin-storybook-nextjs/src/utils/next-config.test.ts
+++ b/code/lib/vite-plugin-storybook-nextjs/src/utils/next-config.test.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ describe('loadNextConfig', () => {
   });
 
   it('uses Next.js config loading unchanged by default', async () => {
-    const config = { distDir: '.next' };
+    const config = { distDir: '.next', experimental: {}, configFileName: 'next.config.js' };
     loadConfigMock.mockResolvedValue(config);
 
     await expect(loadNextConfig(phase, dir)).resolves.toBe(config);
@@ -80,4 +80,57 @@ describe('loadNextConfig', () => {
       typedEnv: true,
     });
   });
+
+  it('normalizes a cached raw config module that is missing Next.js defaults', async () => {
+    const cachedRawConfig = { distDir: '.next' };
+    const normalizedConfig = {
+      distDir: '.next',
+      experimental: {
+        turbopackRustReactCompiler: true,
+        typedEnv: true,
+      },
+    };
+    const resolvedConfig = {
+      distDir: '.next',
+      experimental: { typedEnv: true },
+    };
+
+    loadConfigMock.mockResolvedValueOnce(cachedRawConfig).mockResolvedValueOnce(resolvedConfig);
+    normalizeConfigMock.mockResolvedValue(normalizedConfig);
+
+    await expect(loadNextConfig(phase, dir)).resolves.toBe(resolvedConfig);
+    expect(loadConfigMock).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(1, phase, dir);
+    expect(normalizeConfigMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(phase, cachedRawConfig);
+    expect(loadConfigMock).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(2, phase, dir, {
+      customConfig: {
+        distDir: '.next',
+        experimental: { typedEnv: true },
+      },
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('normalizes a cached raw config that already has a user experimental option', async () => {
+    const cachedRawConfig = { experimental: { typedEnv: true } };
+    const normalizedConfig = {
+      experimental: {
+        turbopackRustReactCompiler: true,
+        typedEnv: true,
+      },
+    };
+    const resolvedConfig = {
+      experimental: { typedEnv: true },
+      configFileName: 'next.config.js',
+    };
+
+    loadConfigMock.mockResolvedValueOnce(cachedRawConfig).mockResolvedValueOnce(resolvedConfig);
+    normalizeConfigMock.mockResolvedValue(normalizedConfig);
+
+    await expect(loadNextConfig(phase, dir)).resolves.toBe(resolvedConfig);
+    expect(normalizeConfigMock).toHaveBeenCalledWith(phase, cachedRawConfig);
+    expect(loadConfigMock).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(2, phase, dir, {
+      customConfig: {
+        experimental: { typedEnv: true },
+      },
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/code/lib/vite-plugin-storybook-nextjs/src/utils/next-config.ts b/code/lib/vite-plugin-storybook-nextjs/src/utils/next-config.ts
index abb535f54e86..0d586d2f76b5 100644
--- a/code/lib/vite-plugin-storybook-nextjs/src/utils/next-config.ts
+++ b/code/lib/vite-plugin-storybook-nextjs/src/utils/next-config.ts
@@ -12,15 +12,32 @@ export async function loadNextConfig(
   phase: Parameters<typeof loadConfig>[0],
   dir: string
 ): Promise<NextConfigComplete> {
+  let nextConfig: NextConfigComplete;
+
   try {
-    return await loadConfig(phase, dir);
+    nextConfig = await loadConfig(phase, dir);
   } catch (error) {
     if (!isTurbopackRustReactCompilerError(error)) {
       throw error;
     }
+
+    return loadNormalizedNextConfig(phase, dir);
+  }
+
+  if (isResolvedNextConfig(nextConfig)) {
+    return nextConfig;
   }
 
-  const rawConfigModule = await loadConfig(phase, dir, { rawConfig: true });
+  return loadNormalizedNextConfig(phase, dir, nextConfig);
+}
+
+async function loadNormalizedNextConfig(
+  phase: Parameters<typeof loadConfig>[0],
+  dir: string,
+  cachedRawConfigModule?: unknown
+): Promise<NextConfigComplete> {
+  const rawConfigModule =
+    cachedRawConfigModule ?? (await loadConfig(phase, dir, { rawConfig: true }));
   const rawConfig = interopDefault(rawConfigModule);
   const normalizedConfig = await normalizeConfig(phase, rawConfig);
   const { turbopackRustReactCompiler: _turbopackRustReactCompiler, ...experimental } =
@@ -34,10 +51,18 @@ export async function loadNextConfig(
   });
 }
 
+function isResolvedNextConfig(config: NextConfigComplete): boolean {
+  return typeof config.configFileName === 'string';
+}
+
 function isTurbopackRustReactCompilerError(error: unknown): boolean {
   return error instanceof Error && error.message.startsWith(TURBOPACK_RUST_REACT_COMPILER_ERROR);
 }
 
-function interopDefault<T>(module: T | { default: T }): T {
-  return (module as { default?: T }).default ?? (module as T);
+function interopDefault(module: unknown): unknown {
+  if (typeof module === 'object' && module !== null && 'default' in module) {
+    return (module as { default: unknown }).default ?? module;
+  }
+
+  return module;
 }