diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/ssr/ssrModuleLoader.ts b/packages/vite/src/node/ssr/ssrModuleLoader.ts
index 7f9731c417c566..4c1f1b9708ecb7 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/node/ssr/ssrModuleLoader.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/ssr/ssrModuleLoader.ts
@@ -135,7 +135,10 @@ async function instantiateModule(
 
   const ssrImport = async (dep: string) => {
     if (dep[0] !== '.' && dep[0] !== '/') {
-      return nodeImport(dep, mod.file!, resolveOptions)
+      const imported = await nodeImport(dep, mod.file!, resolveOptions)
+      if (imported) {
+        return imported
+      }
     }
     dep = unwrapId(dep)
     if (!isCircular(dep) && !pendingImports.get(dep)?.some(isCircular)) {
@@ -291,6 +294,10 @@ async function nodeImport(
         ? { ...resolveOptions, tryEsmOnly: true }
         : resolveOptions
     )
+    // These cannot be imported directly
+    if (url.match(/\.(css|less|sass|scss|styl|stylus|pcss|postcss|json)$/)) {
+      return null
+    }
     if (usingDynamicImport) {
       url = pathToFileURL(url).toString()
     }