diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/node/pool.ts b/packages/vitest/src/node/pool.ts
index 649f3bed31a6..ca9d3f9bc544 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/node/pool.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/node/pool.ts
@@ -60,7 +60,16 @@ export function createPool(ctx: Vitest): ProcessPool {
     return getDefaultPoolName(project, file)
   }
 
-  const conditions = ctx.server.config.resolve.conditions?.flatMap(c => ['--conditions', c]) || []
+  // in addition to resolve.conditions Vite also adds production/development,
+  // see: https://github.com/vitejs/vite/blob/af2aa09575229462635b7cbb6d248ca853057ba2/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/resolve.ts#L1056-L1080
+  const potentialConditions = new Set(['production', 'development', ...ctx.server.config.resolve.conditions])
+  const conditions = [...potentialConditions].filter((condition) => {
+    if (condition === 'production')
+      return ctx.server.config.isProduction
+    if (condition === 'development')
+      return !ctx.server.config.isProduction
+    return true
+  }).flatMap(c => ['--conditions', c])
 
   // Instead of passing whole process.execArgv to the workers, pick allowed options.
   // Some options may crash worker, e.g. --prof, --title. nodejs/node#41103
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
index 2ea530937f4f..42547a1957c1 100644
--- a/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -1567,6 +1567,12 @@ importers:
         specifier: workspace:*
         version: link:../../packages/vitest
 
+  test/config/fixtures/conditions-pkg:
+    dependencies:
+      subpackage:
+        specifier: file:../conditions-subpackage
+        version: file:test/config/fixtures/conditions-subpackage
+
   test/core:
     devDependencies:
       '@vitest/expect':
@@ -27741,6 +27747,11 @@ packages:
     resolution: {integrity: sha512-V50KMwwzqJV0NpZIZFwfOD5/lyny3WlSzRiXgA0G7VUnRlqttta1L6UQIHzd6EuBY/cHGfwTIck7w1yH6Q5zUw==}
     dev: true
 
+  file:test/config/fixtures/conditions-subpackage:
+    resolution: {directory: test/config/fixtures/conditions-subpackage, type: directory}
+    name: subpackage
+    dev: false
+
   file:test/env-custom/vitest-environment-custom:
     resolution: {directory: test/env-custom/vitest-environment-custom, type: directory}
     name: vitest-environment-custom
diff --git a/pnpm-workspace.yaml b/pnpm-workspace.yaml
index 5492b888537a..70b0a9eecd11 100644
--- a/pnpm-workspace.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-workspace.yaml
@@ -3,3 +3,4 @@ packages:
   - packages/*
   - examples/*
   - test/*
+  - test/config/fixtures/conditions-pkg
diff --git a/test/config/fixtures/conditions-pkg/index.js b/test/config/fixtures/conditions-pkg/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..3ed313256b6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/config/fixtures/conditions-pkg/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+export { default as condition } from 'subpackage'
diff --git a/test/config/fixtures/conditions-pkg/package.json b/test/config/fixtures/conditions-pkg/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..9190ef45d01a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/config/fixtures/conditions-pkg/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+{
+  "name": "conditions",
+  "private": true,
+  "type": "module",
+  "main": "index.js",
+  "dependencies": {
+    "subpackage": "file:../conditions-subpackage"
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/config/fixtures/conditions-subpackage/custom.js b/test/config/fixtures/conditions-subpackage/custom.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..4fd6a6052a87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/config/fixtures/conditions-subpackage/custom.js
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+export default 'custom'
diff --git a/test/config/fixtures/conditions-subpackage/default.js b/test/config/fixtures/conditions-subpackage/default.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..32d12c6a5815
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/config/fixtures/conditions-subpackage/default.js
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+throw new Error('Should not be imported')
diff --git a/test/config/fixtures/conditions-subpackage/development.js b/test/config/fixtures/conditions-subpackage/development.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e47b8144bfec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/config/fixtures/conditions-subpackage/development.js
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+export default 'development'
diff --git a/test/config/fixtures/conditions-subpackage/package.json b/test/config/fixtures/conditions-subpackage/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..4fbbddc56b70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/config/fixtures/conditions-subpackage/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+{
+  "name": "subpackage",
+  "private": true,
+  "type": "module",
+  "exports": {
+    ".": {
+      "custom": "./custom.js",
+      "development": "./development.js",
+      "production": "./production.js",
+      "default": "./default.js"
+    }
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/config/fixtures/conditions-subpackage/production.js b/test/config/fixtures/conditions-subpackage/production.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..207e27b62518
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/config/fixtures/conditions-subpackage/production.js
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+export default 'production'
diff --git a/test/config/fixtures/conditions-test/conditions.test.js b/test/config/fixtures/conditions-test/conditions.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..447a8696379f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/config/fixtures/conditions-test/conditions.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+import { test, expect } from 'vitest';
+import { condition } from '../conditions-pkg';
+
+test('condition is correct', () => {
+  expect(condition).toBe(TEST_CONDITION)
+})
diff --git a/test/config/fixtures/conditions-test/vitest.config.ts b/test/config/fixtures/conditions-test/vitest.config.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..abed6b2116e1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/config/fixtures/conditions-test/vitest.config.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+import { defineConfig } from 'vitest/config'
+
+export default defineConfig({})
diff --git a/test/config/test/conditions-cli.test.ts b/test/config/test/conditions-cli.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..7f44397095fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/config/test/conditions-cli.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+import { expect, test } from 'vitest'
+import { runVitest } from '../../test-utils'
+
+test('correctly imports external dependencies with a development condition', async () => {
+  // dev condition is the default
+  const { stderr } = await runVitest({
+    root: 'fixtures/conditions-test',
+    server: {
+      deps: {
+        external: [/conditions-pkg/],
+      },
+    },
+  }, [], 'test', {
+    define: {
+      TEST_CONDITION: '"development"',
+    },
+  })
+
+  expect(stderr).toBe('')
+})
+
+test('correctly imports external dependencies with a production condition', async () => {
+  // this is the only check in Vite for "isProduction" value
+  process.env.NODE_ENV = 'production'
+
+  const { stderr } = await runVitest({
+    root: 'fixtures/conditions-test',
+    server: {
+      deps: {
+        external: [/conditions-pkg/],
+      },
+    },
+  }, [], 'test', {
+    define: {
+      TEST_CONDITION: '"production"',
+    },
+  })
+
+  expect(stderr).toBe('')
+})
+
+test('correctly imports external dependencies with a custom condition', async () => {
+  delete process.env.NODE_ENV
+
+  const { stderr } = await runVitest({
+    root: 'fixtures/conditions-test',
+    server: {
+      deps: {
+        external: [/conditions-pkg/],
+      },
+    },
+  }, [], 'test', {
+    resolve: {
+      conditions: ['custom'],
+    },
+    define: {
+      TEST_CONDITION: '"custom"',
+    },
+  })
+
+  expect(stderr).toBe('')
+})
diff --git a/test/test-utils/index.ts b/test/test-utils/index.ts
index 31d33e1a58a6..f0312d64b201 100644
--- a/test/test-utils/index.ts
+++ b/test/test-utils/index.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { Console } from 'node:console'
 import { Writable } from 'node:stream'
 import fs from 'node:fs'
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url'
+import type { UserConfig as ViteUserConfig } from 'vite'
 import { type UserConfig, type VitestRunMode, afterEach } from 'vitest'
 import type { Vitest } from 'vitest/node'
 import { startVitest } from 'vitest/node'
@@ -9,7 +10,7 @@ import { type Options, execa } from 'execa'
 import stripAnsi from 'strip-ansi'
 import { dirname, resolve } from 'pathe'
 
-export async function runVitest(config: UserConfig, cliFilters: string[] = [], mode: VitestRunMode = 'test') {
+export async function runVitest(config: UserConfig, cliFilters: string[] = [], mode: VitestRunMode = 'test', viteOverrides: ViteUserConfig = {}) {
   // Reset possible previous runs
   process.exitCode = 0
   let exitCode = process.exitCode
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ export async function runVitest(config: UserConfig, cliFilters: string[] = [], m
       watch: false,
       reporters: ['verbose'],
       ...config,
-    })
+    }, viteOverrides)
   }
   catch (e: any) {
     return {