diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/node/cache/fsModuleCache.ts b/packages/vitest/src/node/cache/fsModuleCache.ts
index 0feacc5df2a9..3c0d5a80fa24 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/node/cache/fsModuleCache.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/node/cache/fsModuleCache.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ const cacheCommentLength = cacheComment.length
 
 const METADATA_FILE = '_metadata.json'
 
+const parallelFsCacheRead = new Map<string, Promise<{ code: string; meta: CachedInlineModuleMeta } | undefined>>()
+
 /**
  * @experimental
  */
@@ -68,9 +70,25 @@ export class FileSystemModuleCache {
     }
   }
 
+  private readCachedFileConcurrently(cachedFilePath: string) {
+    if (!parallelFsCacheRead.has(cachedFilePath)) {
+      parallelFsCacheRead.set(cachedFilePath, readFile(cachedFilePath, 'utf-8').then((code) => {
+        const matchIndex = code.lastIndexOf(cacheComment)
+        if (matchIndex === -1) {
+          debugFs?.(`${c.red('[empty]')} ${cachedFilePath} exists, but doesn't have a ${cacheComment} comment, transforming by vite instead`)
+          return
+        }
+
+        return { code, meta: this.fromBase64(code.slice(matchIndex + cacheCommentLength)) }
+      }).finally(() => {
+        parallelFsCacheRead.delete(cachedFilePath)
+      }))
+    }
+    return parallelFsCacheRead.get(cachedFilePath)!
+  }
+
   async getCachedModule(cachedFilePath: string): Promise<
     CachedInlineModuleMeta
-    | Extract<FetchResult, { externalize: string }>
     | undefined
   > {
     if (!existsSync(cachedFilePath)) {
@@ -78,18 +96,12 @@ export class FileSystemModuleCache {
       return
     }
 
-    const code = await readFile(cachedFilePath, 'utf-8')
-    const matchIndex = code.lastIndexOf(cacheComment)
-    if (matchIndex === -1) {
-      debugFs?.(`${c.red('[empty]')} ${cachedFilePath} exists, but doesn't have a ${cacheComment} comment, transforming by vite instead`)
+    const fileResult = await this.readCachedFileConcurrently(cachedFilePath)
+    if (!fileResult) {
       return
     }
+    const { code, meta } = fileResult
 
-    const meta = this.fromBase64(code.slice(matchIndex + cacheCommentLength))
-    if (meta.externalize) {
-      debugFs?.(`${c.green('[read]')} ${meta.externalize} is externalized inside ${cachedFilePath}`)
-      return { externalize: meta.externalize, type: meta.type }
-    }
     debugFs?.(`${c.green('[read]')} ${meta.id} is cached in ${cachedFilePath}`)
 
     return {
@@ -108,11 +120,7 @@ export class FileSystemModuleCache {
     importers: string[] = [],
     mappings: boolean = false,
   ): Promise<void> {
-    if ('externalize' in fetchResult) {
-      debugFs?.(`${c.yellow('[write]')} ${fetchResult.externalize} is externalized inside ${cachedFilePath}`)
-      await atomicWriteFile(cachedFilePath, `${cacheComment}${this.toBase64(fetchResult)}`)
-    }
-    else if ('code' in fetchResult) {
+    if ('code' in fetchResult) {
       const result = {
         file: fetchResult.file,
         id: fetchResult.id,
@@ -169,8 +177,6 @@ export class FileSystemModuleCache {
     id: string,
     fileContent: string,
   ): string | null {
-    let hashString = ''
-
     // bail out if file has import.meta.glob because it depends on other files
     // TODO: figure out a way to still support it
     if (fileContent.includes('import.meta.glob(')) {
@@ -179,6 +185,8 @@ export class FileSystemModuleCache {
       return null
     }
 
+    let hashString = ''
+
     for (const generator of this.fsCacheKeyGenerators) {
       const result = generator({ environment, id, sourceCode: fileContent })
       if (typeof result === 'string') {
@@ -214,13 +222,6 @@ export class FileSystemModuleCache {
           environment: environment.name,
           // this affects Vitest CSS plugin
           css: vitestConfig.css,
-          // this affect externalization
-          resolver: {
-            inline: resolver.options.inline,
-            external: resolver.options.external,
-            inlineFiles: resolver.options.inlineFiles,
-            moduleDirectories: resolver.options.moduleDirectories,
-          },
         },
         (_, value) => {
           if (typeof value === 'function' || value instanceof RegExp) {
diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/node/environments/fetchModule.ts b/packages/vitest/src/node/environments/fetchModule.ts
index 2cbbc946649b..e7562ee1c116 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/node/environments/fetchModule.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/node/environments/fetchModule.ts
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ class ModuleFetcher {
   private recordResult(trace: Span, result: FetchResult | FetchCachedFileSystemResult): void {
     if ('externalize' in result) {
       trace.setAttributes({
-        'vitest.module.external': result.externalize,
+        'vitest.fetched_module.external': result.externalize,
         'vitest.fetched_module.type': result.type,
       })
     }
@@ -213,44 +213,55 @@ class ModuleFetcher {
     environment: DevEnvironment,
     moduleGraphModule: EnvironmentModuleNode,
   ): Promise<FetchResult | FetchCachedFileSystemResult | undefined> {
-    const cachedModule = await this.fsCache.getCachedModule(cachePath)
-
-    if (cachedModule && 'code' in cachedModule) {
-      // keep the module graph in sync
-      if (!moduleGraphModule.transformResult) {
-        let map: Rollup.SourceMap | null | { mappings: '' } = extractSourceMap(cachedModule.code)
-        if (map && cachedModule.file) {
-          map.file = cachedModule.file
-        }
-        // mappings is a special source map identifier in rollup
-        if (!map && cachedModule.mappings) {
-          map = { mappings: '' }
-        }
-        moduleGraphModule.transformResult = {
-          code: cachedModule.code,
-          map,
-          ssr: true,
-        }
-
-        // we populate the module graph to make the watch mode work because it relies on importers
-        cachedModule.importers.forEach((importer) => {
-          const environmentNode = environment.moduleGraph.getModuleById(importer)
-          if (environmentNode) {
-            moduleGraphModule.importers.add(environmentNode)
-          }
-        })
-      }
+    if (moduleGraphModule.transformResult?.__vitestTmp) {
       return {
         cached: true as const,
-        file: cachedModule.file,
-        id: cachedModule.id,
-        tmp: cachePath,
-        url: cachedModule.url,
+        file: moduleGraphModule.file,
+        id: moduleGraphModule.id!,
+        tmp: moduleGraphModule.transformResult.__vitestTmp,
+        url: moduleGraphModule.url,
         invalidate: false,
       }
     }
 
-    return cachedModule
+    const cachedModule = await this.fsCache.getCachedModule(cachePath)
+
+    if (!cachedModule) {
+      return
+    }
+
+    // keep the module graph in sync
+    let map: Rollup.SourceMap | null | { mappings: '' } = extractSourceMap(cachedModule.code)
+    if (map && cachedModule.file) {
+      map.file = cachedModule.file
+    }
+    // mappings is a special source map identifier in rollup
+    if (!map && cachedModule.mappings) {
+      map = { mappings: '' }
+    }
+    moduleGraphModule.transformResult = {
+      code: cachedModule.code,
+      map,
+      ssr: true,
+      __vitestTmp: cachePath,
+    }
+
+    // we populate the module graph to make the watch mode work because it relies on importers
+    cachedModule.importers.forEach((importer) => {
+      const environmentNode = environment.moduleGraph.getModuleById(importer)
+      if (environmentNode) {
+        moduleGraphModule.importers.add(environmentNode)
+      }
+    })
+
+    return {
+      cached: true as const,
+      file: cachedModule.file,
+      id: cachedModule.id,
+      tmp: cachePath,
+      url: cachedModule.url,
+      invalidate: false,
+    }
   }
 
   private async fetchAndProcess(
@@ -485,3 +496,9 @@ export function handleRollupError(e: unknown): never {
   }
   throw e
 }
+
+declare module 'vite' {
+  export interface TransformResult {
+    __vitestTmp?: string
+  }
+}