diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index bc52411..4e461d9 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,17 @@ All notable changes to this project are documented here. The format follows
 [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/), and this project
 adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [1.0.0-prerelease.7] - 2026-11-09
+
+### Fixed
+
+- **`.md` fences render in `astro dev`.** On a `.md` page with no React island,
+  the fence script failed with `@vitejs/plugin-react can't detect preamble`,
+  because @astrojs/react installs React's fast-refresh preamble only on pages
+  with an island. The script now imports `@vitejs/plugin-react/preamble` before
+  the diagram code when no preamble is installed. Builds were unaffected; the
+  module is empty outside dev.
+
 ## [1.0.0-prerelease.6] - 2026-11-09
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/docs/wiki/Troubleshooting.md b/docs/wiki/Troubleshooting.md
index ed6309e..d377131 100644
--- a/docs/wiki/Troubleshooting.md
+++ b/docs/wiki/Troubleshooting.md
@@ -132,6 +132,10 @@ component). If it never mounts:
    and a page script containing `[data-astroc4-fence]`.
 3. A page rendered outside Astro's pipeline (raw HTML, a custom renderer) does not
    get the injected script.
+4. In `astro dev` on `1.0.0-prerelease.6`, the console shows
+   `@vitejs/plugin-react can't detect preamble`: @astrojs/react installs React's
+   fast-refresh preamble only on pages with an island. Upgrade to
+   `1.0.0-prerelease.7`, whose script installs it first. Builds are unaffected.
 
 
 ## Build fails: `Several LikeC4 projects exist (…); pass project="…"`
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 412b902..b2b5f1b 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@purview-dev/astroc4",
-  "version": "1.0.0-prerelease.6",
+  "version": "1.0.0-prerelease.7",
   "description": "Interactive LikeC4 architecture diagrams for Astro and Starlight: <LikeC4View>, ```likec4 fences, and LikeC4 syntax highlighting derived from the live Langium grammar.",
   "license": "MIT",
   "author": {
diff --git a/src/__tests__/integration.test.ts b/src/__tests__/integration.test.ts
index c6b80a9..d878c08 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/integration.test.ts
+++ b/src/__tests__/integration.test.ts
@@ -89,6 +89,26 @@ describe('likec4Integration', () => {
 		expect(injectScript).toHaveBeenCalledWith('page', expect.stringContaining(`import('${PACKAGE_NAME}/components/md-fences')`));
 	});
 
+	// In dev, @astrojs/react installs the fast-refresh preamble only on pages with an
+	// island, and a .md page has none: React components then throw "can't detect preamble".
+	it('installs the React preamble before it loads the .md fence components', async () => {
+		const injectScript = vi.fn();
+
+		await likec4Integration().hooks['astro:config:setup']!({
+			command: 'dev',
+			config: { root: pathToFileURL(process.cwd()), vite: {}, integrations: [] },
+			updateConfig: vi.fn(),
+			injectScript,
+			logger: stubLogger(),
+		} as never);
+
+		const script: string = injectScript.mock.calls.find(([stage]) => stage === 'page')![1];
+		const preamble = script.indexOf(`import('@vitejs/plugin-react/preamble')`);
+
+		expect(preamble).toBeGreaterThan(-1);
+		expect(preamble).toBeLessThan(script.indexOf(`import('${PACKAGE_NAME}/components/md-fences')`));
+	});
+
 	it('registers the fence transform with the site Markdown processor', async () => {
 		const { updateConfig } = await setup();
 
diff --git a/src/integration.ts b/src/integration.ts
index 8fe62ba..3eb26e6 100644
--- a/src/integration.ts
+++ b/src/integration.ts
@@ -42,11 +42,18 @@ const OPTIMIZED_DEPENDENCIES = ['react/compiler-runtime'];
 /**
  * Mounts the fences of .md pages. Injected into every page, so React and LikeC4
  * are only `import()`ed on a page that has a placeholder.
+ *
+ * In dev, @astrojs/react installs React's fast-refresh preamble only on pages with
+ * an island, and a .md page has none, so the script installs it first. Outside dev,
+ * @vitejs/plugin-react serves the preamble module empty.
  */
 const MD_FENCES_SCRIPT = [
 	`const mountLikeC4Fences = () => {`,
 	`  if (!document.querySelector('[data-astroc4-fence]:not([data-astroc4-mounted])')) return;`,
-	`  import('${PACKAGE_NAME}/components/md-fences').then((module) => module.mountFences());`,
+	`  const preamble = window.$RefreshReg$ ? Promise.resolve() : import('@vitejs/plugin-react/preamble');`,
+	`  preamble`,
+	`    .then(() => import('${PACKAGE_NAME}/components/md-fences'))`,
+	`    .then((module) => module.mountFences());`,
 	`};`,
 	`if (document.readyState === 'loading') document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', mountLikeC4Fences);`,
 	`else mountLikeC4Fences();`,