diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/node/plugins/workspace.ts b/packages/vitest/src/node/plugins/workspace.ts
index dbfecb5e2049..3338ab253787 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/node/plugins/workspace.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/node/plugins/workspace.ts
@@ -245,6 +245,7 @@ export function WorkspaceVitestPlugin(
     },
     {
       name: 'vitest:project:server',
+      enforce: 'pre',
       async configureServer(server) {
         const options = deepMerge({}, configDefaults, server.config.test || {})
         await project._configureServer(options, server)
diff --git a/test/cli/fixtures/ssr-runner-project/project/basic.test.ts b/test/cli/fixtures/ssr-runner-project/project/basic.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..eab3194ea0f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/cli/fixtures/ssr-runner-project/project/basic.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+import { test, expect } from 'vitest'
+
+test('basic', () => {
+  expect(1 + 1).toBe(2)
+})
diff --git a/test/cli/fixtures/ssr-runner-project/project/test-runner.js b/test/cli/fixtures/ssr-runner-project/project/test-runner.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..149c784f0017
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/cli/fixtures/ssr-runner-project/project/test-runner.js
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+import * as vite from 'vite'
+export default vite
diff --git a/test/cli/fixtures/ssr-runner-project/project/vitest.config.ts b/test/cli/fixtures/ssr-runner-project/project/vitest.config.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..0a87e213c395
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/cli/fixtures/ssr-runner-project/project/vitest.config.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+import assert from 'node:assert'
+import { isRunnableDevEnvironment, createServer } from 'vite'
+import { defineConfig } from 'vitest/config'
+
+export default defineConfig({
+  plugins: [
+    {
+      name: 'test-ssr-runner',
+      // test ssr runner.import() with correct external semantics in configureServer hook
+      // vite should be externalized and reference-equal to the directly imported one
+      async configureServer(server) {
+        const ssr = server.environments.ssr
+        if (isRunnableDevEnvironment(ssr)) {
+          const m = await ssr.runner.import<{ default: typeof import("vite") }>('./test-runner.js')
+          assert(m.default.createServer === createServer)
+          ;(globalThis as any).__testSsrRunnerProject = m.default.version
+        }
+      },
+    },
+  ],
+})
diff --git a/test/cli/fixtures/ssr-runner-project/vitest.config.ts b/test/cli/fixtures/ssr-runner-project/vitest.config.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..0e54531bf948
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/cli/fixtures/ssr-runner-project/vitest.config.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+import { defineConfig } from "vitest/config";
+
+export default defineConfig({
+  test: {
+    projects: ["project"],
+  },
+});
diff --git a/test/cli/test/ssr-runner.test.ts b/test/cli/test/ssr-runner.test.ts
index 1bdc814b137a..cfd71b554dde 100644
--- a/test/cli/test/ssr-runner.test.ts
+++ b/test/cli/test/ssr-runner.test.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,13 @@ import { runVitest } from '../../test-utils'
 
 // https://github.com/vitest-dev/vitest/issues/9324
 it('ssr runner.import() works in configureServer', async () => {
-  await runVitest({ root: './fixtures/ssr-runner' })
+  const { stderr } = await runVitest({ root: './fixtures/ssr-runner' })
+  expect(stderr).toBe('')
   expect((globalThis as any).__testSsrRunner).toBe(version)
 })
+
+it('works in project', async () => {
+  const { stderr } = await runVitest({ root: './fixtures/ssr-runner-project' })
+  expect(stderr).toBe('')
+  expect((globalThis as any).__testSsrRunnerProject).toBe(version)
+})