diff --git a/bin/vite.js b/bin/vite.js
index 831411f4ca12b4..d075ba1c48f13d 100755
--- a/bin/vite.js
+++ b/bin/vite.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env node
 const argv = require('minimist')(process.argv.slice(2))
-const server = require('../dist/server').createServer(argv)
+const server = require('../dist').createServer(argv)
 
 let port = argv.port || 3000
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 79905cedfa1a17..d1ea09a91cf2cd 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -6,17 +6,17 @@
   "bin": {
     "vite": "bin/vite.js"
   },
-  "main": "dist/server/index.js",
-  "types": "dist/server/index.d.ts",
+  "main": "dist/node/index.js",
+  "types": "dist/node/index.d.ts",
   "files": [
     "bin",
     "dist"
   ],
   "scripts": {
-    "dev": "run-p dev-client dev-server",
+    "dev": "run-p dev-client dev-node",
     "dev-client": "tsc -w --p src/client",
-    "dev-server": "tsc -w --p src/server",
-    "build": "rm -rf dist && tsc -p src/client && tsc -p src/server",
+    "dev-node": "tsc -w --p src/node",
+    "build": "rm -rf dist && tsc -p src/client && tsc -p src/node",
     "lint": "prettier --write --parser typescript \"src/**/*.ts\"",
     "test": "yarn build && jest",
     "prepublishOnly": "yarn build"
diff --git a/src/client/tsconfig.json b/src/client/tsconfig.json
index 2a9d6cea0040f7..0bf14737597a70 100644
--- a/src/client/tsconfig.json
+++ b/src/client/tsconfig.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "extends": "../../tsconfig.base.json",
   "compilerOptions": {
-    "outDir": "../../dist/client",
+    "outDir": "../../dist",
     "module": "esnext",
     "lib": ["ESNext", "DOM"]
   },
diff --git a/src/node/build.ts b/src/node/build.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..cc349af8b0d868
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/node/build.ts
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+export function build() {}
diff --git a/src/node/index.ts b/src/node/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..37183651544933
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/node/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+export * from './server'
diff --git a/src/server/resolveVue.ts b/src/node/resolveVue.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from src/server/resolveVue.ts
rename to src/node/resolveVue.ts
diff --git a/src/server/index.ts b/src/node/server.ts
similarity index 80%
rename from src/server/index.ts
rename to src/node/server.ts
index 8990ac9276d176..3e04b4c6a60d3e 100644
--- a/src/server/index.ts
+++ b/src/node/server.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 import http, { Server } from 'http'
 import Koa from 'koa'
 import chokidar, { FSWatcher } from 'chokidar'
-import { modulesPlugin } from './plugins/modules'
-import { vuePlugin } from './plugins/vue'
-import { hmrPlugin } from './plugins/hmr'
-import { servePlugin } from './plugins/serve'
+import { modulesPlugin } from './serverPluginModules'
+import { vuePlugin } from './serverPluginVue'
+import { hmrPlugin } from './serverPluginHmr'
+import { servePlugin } from './serverPluginServe'
 
 export type Plugin = (ctx: PluginContext) => void
 
diff --git a/src/server/plugins/hmr.ts b/src/node/serverPluginHmr.ts
similarity index 95%
rename from src/server/plugins/hmr.ts
rename to src/node/serverPluginHmr.ts
index 35793f9882c5ec..0219539a31a81c 100644
--- a/src/server/plugins/hmr.ts
+++ b/src/node/serverPluginHmr.ts
@@ -28,18 +28,19 @@
 //    so that on the client, the `hot.accept` call would have reigstered for
 //    updates using the full paths of the dependencies.
 
-import { Plugin } from '../index'
+import { Plugin } from './server'
 import path from 'path'
 import WebSocket from 'ws'
 import hash_sum from 'hash-sum'
 import { SFCBlock } from '@vue/compiler-sfc'
-import { parseSFC, vueCache } from './vue'
-import { cachedRead } from '../utils'
-import { importerMap, hmrBoundariesMap } from './modules'
+import { parseSFC, vueCache } from './serverPluginVue'
+import { cachedRead } from './utils'
+import { importerMap, hmrBoundariesMap } from './serverPluginModules'
 
 const debug = require('debug')('vite:hmr')
 
-const hmrClientFilePath = path.resolve(__dirname, '../../client/client.js')
+// client and node files are placed flat in the dist folder
+const hmrClientFilePath = path.resolve(__dirname, './client.js')
 export const hmrClientPublicPath = '/@hmr'
 
 interface HMRPayload {
diff --git a/src/server/plugins/modules.ts b/src/node/serverPluginModules.ts
similarity index 98%
rename from src/server/plugins/modules.ts
rename to src/node/serverPluginModules.ts
index 2f6b3d51cc7df8..d4e7b32c1f9eb8 100644
--- a/src/server/plugins/modules.ts
+++ b/src/node/serverPluginModules.ts
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
-import { Plugin } from '../index'
-import { resolveVue } from '../resolveVue'
+import { Plugin } from './server'
+import { resolveVue } from './resolveVue'
 import path from 'path'
 import resolve from 'resolve-from'
 import { Readable } from 'stream'
 import { init as initLexer, parse as parseImports } from 'es-module-lexer'
 import MagicString from 'magic-string'
-import { cachedRead } from '../utils'
+import { cachedRead } from './utils'
 import { promises as fs } from 'fs'
-import { hmrClientPublicPath } from './hmr'
+import { hmrClientPublicPath } from './serverPluginHmr'
 import { parse } from '@babel/parser'
 import { StringLiteral } from '@babel/types'
 import LRUCache from 'lru-cache'
diff --git a/src/server/plugins/serve.ts b/src/node/serverPluginServe.ts
similarity index 97%
rename from src/server/plugins/serve.ts
rename to src/node/serverPluginServe.ts
index 1d65361aa8a1ff..8c61211b2f49e5 100644
--- a/src/server/plugins/serve.ts
+++ b/src/node/serverPluginServe.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { Plugin } from '../index'
+import { Plugin } from './server'
 
 const debug = require('debug')('vite:history')
 
diff --git a/src/server/plugins/vue.ts b/src/node/serverPluginVue.ts
similarity index 96%
rename from src/server/plugins/vue.ts
rename to src/node/serverPluginVue.ts
index 89047ee548e4c6..5161cb5187acf6 100644
--- a/src/server/plugins/vue.ts
+++ b/src/node/serverPluginVue.ts
@@ -1,15 +1,15 @@
-import { Plugin } from '../index'
+import { Plugin } from './server'
 import path from 'path'
 import {
   SFCDescriptor,
   SFCTemplateBlock,
   SFCStyleBlock
 } from '@vue/compiler-sfc'
-import { resolveCompiler } from '../resolveVue'
+import { resolveCompiler } from './resolveVue'
 import hash_sum from 'hash-sum'
-import { cachedRead } from '../utils'
+import { cachedRead } from './utils'
 import LRUCache from 'lru-cache'
-import { hmrClientPublicPath } from './hmr'
+import { hmrClientPublicPath } from './serverPluginHmr'
 
 interface CacheEntry {
   descriptor?: SFCDescriptor
diff --git a/src/server/tsconfig.json b/src/node/tsconfig.json
similarity index 80%
rename from src/server/tsconfig.json
rename to src/node/tsconfig.json
index 5243791ff80819..343f5a1696e0d1 100644
--- a/src/server/tsconfig.json
+++ b/src/node/tsconfig.json
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "extends": "../../tsconfig.base.json",
   "compilerOptions": {
-    "outDir": "../../dist/server",
+    "outDir": "../../dist",
     "module": "commonjs",
     "lib": ["ESNext"]
   },
diff --git a/src/server/utils.ts b/src/node/utils.ts
similarity index 100%
rename from src/server/utils.ts
rename to src/node/utils.ts