diff --git a/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/tools/esbuild/application-code-bundle.ts b/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/tools/esbuild/application-code-bundle.ts
index 6a18799333fe..a4f4882392a6 100644
--- a/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/tools/esbuild/application-code-bundle.ts
+++ b/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/tools/esbuild/application-code-bundle.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import { createCompilerPlugin } from './angular/compiler-plugin';
 import { SourceFileCache } from './angular/source-file-cache';
 import { BundlerOptionsFactory } from './bundler-context';
 import { createCompilerPluginOptions } from './compiler-plugin-options';
+import { createExternalPackagesPlugin } from './external-packages-plugin';
 import { createAngularLocaleDataPlugin } from './i18n-locale-plugin';
 import { createRxjsEsmResolutionPlugin } from './rxjs-esm-resolution-plugin';
 import { createSourcemapIgnorelistPlugin } from './sourcemap-ignorelist-plugin';
@@ -59,14 +60,21 @@ export function createBrowserCodeBundleOptions(
     ],
   };
 
-  if (options.externalPackages) {
-    buildOptions.packages = 'external';
-  }
-
   if (options.plugins) {
     buildOptions.plugins?.push(...options.plugins);
   }
 
+  if (options.externalPackages) {
+    // Package files affected by a customized loader should not be implicitly marked as external
+    if (options.loaderExtensions || options.plugins) {
+      // Plugin must be added after custom plugins to ensure any added loader options are considered
+      buildOptions.plugins?.push(createExternalPackagesPlugin());
+    } else {
+      // Safe to use the packages external option directly
+      buildOptions.packages = 'external';
+    }
+  }
+
   return buildOptions;
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/tools/esbuild/external-packages-plugin.ts b/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/tools/esbuild/external-packages-plugin.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a090503b3ee6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/tools/esbuild/external-packages-plugin.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+/**
+ * @license
+ * Copyright Google LLC All Rights Reserved.
+ *
+ * Use of this source code is governed by an MIT-style license that can be
+ * found in the LICENSE file at https://angular.io/license
+ */
+
+import type { Plugin } from 'esbuild';
+import { extname } from 'node:path';
+
+const EXTERNAL_PACKAGE_RESOLUTION = Symbol('EXTERNAL_PACKAGE_RESOLUTION');
+
+/**
+ * Creates a plugin that marks any resolved path as external if it is within a node modules directory.
+ * This is used instead of the esbuild `packages` option to avoid marking files that should be loaded
+ * via customized loaders. This is necessary to prevent Vite development server pre-bundling errors.
+ *
+ * @returns An esbuild plugin.
+ */
+export function createExternalPackagesPlugin(): Plugin {
+  return {
+    name: 'angular-external-packages',
+    setup(build) {
+      // Safe to use native packages external option if no loader options present
+      if (
+        build.initialOptions.loader === undefined ||
+        Object.keys(build.initialOptions.loader).length === 0
+      ) {
+        build.initialOptions.packages = 'external';
+
+        return;
+      }
+
+      const loaderFileExtensions = new Set(Object.keys(build.initialOptions.loader));
+
+      // Only attempt resolve of non-relative and non-absolute paths
+      build.onResolve({ filter: /^[^./]/ }, async (args) => {
+        if (args.pluginData?.[EXTERNAL_PACKAGE_RESOLUTION]) {
+          return null;
+        }
+
+        const { importer, kind, resolveDir, namespace, pluginData = {} } = args;
+        pluginData[EXTERNAL_PACKAGE_RESOLUTION] = true;
+
+        const result = await build.resolve(args.path, {
+          importer,
+          kind,
+          namespace,
+          pluginData,
+          resolveDir,
+        });
+
+        // Return result if unable to resolve or explicitly marked external (externalDependencies option)
+        if (!result.path || result.external) {
+          return result;
+        }
+
+        // Allow customized loaders to run against configured paths regardless of location
+        if (loaderFileExtensions.has(extname(result.path))) {
+          return result;
+        }
+
+        // Mark paths from a node modules directory as external
+        if (/[\\/]node_modules[\\/]/.test(result.path)) {
+          return {
+            path: args.path,
+            external: true,
+          };
+        }
+
+        // Otherwise return original result
+        return result;
+      });
+    },
+  };
+}