diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/node/plugins/index.ts b/packages/vitest/src/node/plugins/index.ts
index 2bc983aadb5a..6ffeabc06572 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/node/plugins/index.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/node/plugins/index.ts
@@ -64,12 +64,14 @@ export async function VitestPlugin(options: UserConfig = {}, ctx = new Vitest('t
 
         const config: ViteConfig = {
           root: viteConfig.test?.root || options.root,
-          esbuild: {
-            sourcemap: 'external',
-
-            // Enables using ignore hint for coverage providers with @preserve keyword
-            legalComments: 'inline',
-          },
+          esbuild: viteConfig.esbuild === false
+            ? false
+            : {
+                sourcemap: 'external',
+
+                // Enables using ignore hint for coverage providers with @preserve keyword
+                legalComments: 'inline',
+              },
           resolve: {
             // by default Vite resolves `module` field, which not always a native ESM module
             // setting this option can bypass that and fallback to cjs version