diff --git a/src/node/build/buildPluginResolve.ts b/src/node/build/buildPluginResolve.ts
index 9831632c583d7f..2befc9f60cb237 100644
--- a/src/node/build/buildPluginResolve.ts
+++ b/src/node/build/buildPluginResolve.ts
@@ -14,32 +14,29 @@ export const createBuildResolvePlugin = (
   return {
     name: 'vite:resolve',
     async resolveId(id: string) {
+      id = resolver.alias(id) || id
       if (id === hmrClientId) {
         return hmrClientId
-      } else if (id.startsWith('/')) {
+      }
+      if (id === 'vue' || id.startsWith('@vue/')) {
+        const vuePaths = resolveVue(root)
+        if (id in vuePaths) {
+          return (vuePaths as any)[id]
+        }
+      }
+      if (id.startsWith('/')) {
         const resolved = resolver.requestToFile(id)
         if (await fs.pathExists(resolved)) {
           debug(id, `-->`, resolved)
           return resolved
         }
-      } else if (id === 'vue' || id.startsWith('@vue/')) {
-        const vuePaths = resolveVue(root)
-        if (id in vuePaths) {
-          return (vuePaths as any)[id]
-        }
       } else if (!id.startsWith('.')) {
-        const request = resolver.idToRequest(id)
-        if (request) {
-          const resolved = resolver.requestToFile(request)
-          debug(id, `-->`, request, `--> `, resolved)
-          return resolved
-        } else {
-          const webModulePath = await resolveWebModule(root, id)
-          if (webModulePath) {
-            return webModulePath
-          }
+        const webModulePath = await resolveWebModule(root, id)
+        if (webModulePath) {
+          return webModulePath
         }
       }
+      // fallback to node-resolve
     },
     load(id: string) {
       if (id === hmrClientId) {
diff --git a/src/node/build/index.ts b/src/node/build/index.ts
index c1cfa62882c3df..b1c2869a6db9fe 100644
--- a/src/node/build/index.ts
+++ b/src/node/build/index.ts
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ export async function build(options: BuildConfig = {}): Promise<BuildResult> {
     outDir = path.resolve(root, 'dist'),
     assetsDir = 'assets',
     assetsInlineLimit = 4096,
+    alias = {},
     resolvers = [],
     vueCompilerOptions,
     rollupInputOptions = {},
@@ -74,7 +75,7 @@ export async function build(options: BuildConfig = {}): Promise<BuildResult> {
   const resolvedAssetsPath = path.join(outDir, assetsDir)
   const cssFileName = 'style.css'
 
-  const resolver = createResolver(root, resolvers)
+  const resolver = createResolver(root, resolvers, alias)
 
   const { htmlPlugin, renderIndex } = await createBuildHtmlPlugin(
     root,
diff --git a/src/node/config.ts b/src/node/config.ts
index 6c66067b2414c8..ce11f9dec1d9d1 100644
--- a/src/node/config.ts
+++ b/src/node/config.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ import Rollup, {
   OutputOptions as RollupOutputOptions
 } from 'rollup'
 
+export { Resolver }
+
 /**
  * Options shared between server and build.
  */
diff --git a/src/node/resolver.ts b/src/node/resolver.ts
index fdb0eaabc6d63c..d0e44dd81e2655 100644
--- a/src/node/resolver.ts
+++ b/src/node/resolver.ts
@@ -11,13 +11,13 @@ import {
 export interface Resolver {
   requestToFile(publicPath: string, root: string): string | undefined
   fileToRequest(filePath: string, root: string): string | undefined
-  idToRequest?(id: string): string | undefined
+  alias?(id: string): string | undefined
 }
 
 export interface InternalResolver {
   requestToFile(publicPath: string): string
   fileToRequest(filePath: string): string
-  idToRequest(id: string): string | undefined
+  alias(id: string): string | undefined
 }
 
 const defaultRequestToFile = (publicPath: string, root: string): string => {
@@ -38,12 +38,6 @@ const defaultFileToRequest = (filePath: string, root: string): string => {
   return `/${slash(path.relative(root, filePath))}`
 }
 
-const defaultIdToRequest = (id: string) => {
-  if (id.startsWith('@') && id.indexOf('/') < 0) {
-    return `/${id}`
-  }
-}
-
 export const supportedExts = ['.js', '.ts', '.jsx', '.tsx', '.json']
 
 const debug = require('debug')('vite:resolve')
@@ -78,7 +72,8 @@ const resolveExt = (id: string) => {
 
 export function createResolver(
   root: string,
-  resolvers: Resolver[]
+  resolvers: Resolver[],
+  alias: Record<string, string>
 ): InternalResolver {
   return {
     requestToFile: (publicPath) => {
@@ -103,12 +98,17 @@ export function createResolver(
       }
       return defaultFileToRequest(filePath, root)
     },
-    idToRequest: (id: string) => {
+    alias: (id: string) => {
+      let aliased: string | undefined = alias[id]
+      if (aliased) {
+        return aliased
+      }
       for (const r of resolvers) {
-        const request = r.idToRequest && r.idToRequest(id)
-        if (request) return request
+        aliased = r.alias && r.alias(id)
+        if (aliased) {
+          return aliased
+        }
       }
-      return defaultIdToRequest(id)
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/node/server/index.ts b/src/node/server/index.ts
index 7ed390bb712afd..9dcdad9621ff01 100644
--- a/src/node/server/index.ts
+++ b/src/node/server/index.ts
@@ -39,13 +39,18 @@ const internalPlugins: ServerPlugin[] = [
 ]
 
 export function createServer(config: ServerConfig = {}): Server {
-  const { root = process.cwd(), plugins = [], resolvers = [] } = config
+  const {
+    root = process.cwd(),
+    plugins = [],
+    resolvers = [],
+    alias = {}
+  } = config
   const app = new Koa()
   const server = http.createServer(app.callback())
   const watcher = chokidar.watch(root, {
     ignored: [/node_modules/]
   }) as HMRWatcher
-  const resolver = createResolver(root, resolvers)
+  const resolver = createResolver(root, resolvers, alias)
   const context = {
     root,
     app,
diff --git a/src/node/utils/pathUtils.ts b/src/node/utils/pathUtils.ts
index ec89c3139cfe91..06cbe29a984ead 100644
--- a/src/node/utils/pathUtils.ts
+++ b/src/node/utils/pathUtils.ts
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ export const isImportRequest = (ctx: Context): boolean => {
   return jsSrcFileRE.test(referer)
 }
 
-const moduleRE = /^[^\/\.]/
+const bareImportRE = /^[^\/\.]/
 const fileExtensionRE = /\.\w+$/
 
 export const resolveImport = (
@@ -59,8 +59,9 @@ export const resolveImport = (
   resolver: InternalResolver,
   timestamp?: string
 ): string => {
-  if (moduleRE.test(id)) {
-    return resolver.idToRequest(id) || `/@modules/${id}`
+  id = resolver.alias(id) || id
+  if (bareImportRE.test(id)) {
+    return `/@modules/${id}`
   } else {
     let { pathname, query } = resolveRelativeRequest(importer, id)
     // append an extension to extension-less imports