diff --git a/packages/vuepress/bin/vuepress-vite.js b/packages/vuepress/bin/vuepress-vite.js
index e53ca2947c..5cd6866dc0 100755
--- a/packages/vuepress/bin/vuepress-vite.js
+++ b/packages/vuepress/bin/vuepress-vite.js
@@ -1,6 +1,19 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env node
 
-import { viteBundler } from '@vuepress/bundler-vite'
-import { cli } from '@vuepress/cli'
+import process from 'node:process'
+
+// Set `NODE_ENV` before loading the bundler, because some of its dependencies
+// (e.g. `vue`) select their development or production builds according to
+// `NODE_ENV` when they are loaded, which is earlier than the `dev` / `build`
+// command sets it. Keep the defaults in sync with the commands.
+const command = process.argv[2]
+if (command === 'dev') {
+  process.env.NODE_ENV ??= 'development'
+} else if (command === 'build') {
+  process.env.NODE_ENV ??= 'production'
+}
+
+const { viteBundler } = await import('@vuepress/bundler-vite')
+const { cli } = await import('@vuepress/cli')
 
 cli({ bundler: viteBundler() })
diff --git a/packages/vuepress/bin/vuepress-webpack.js b/packages/vuepress/bin/vuepress-webpack.js
index 0985d7decf..5f26818831 100755
--- a/packages/vuepress/bin/vuepress-webpack.js
+++ b/packages/vuepress/bin/vuepress-webpack.js
@@ -1,6 +1,19 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env node
 
-import { webpackBundler } from '@vuepress/bundler-webpack'
-import { cli } from '@vuepress/cli'
+import process from 'node:process'
+
+// Set `NODE_ENV` before loading the bundler, because some of its dependencies
+// (e.g. `vue`) select their development or production builds according to
+// `NODE_ENV` when they are loaded, which is earlier than the `dev` / `build`
+// command sets it. Keep the defaults in sync with the commands.
+const command = process.argv[2]
+if (command === 'dev') {
+  process.env.NODE_ENV ??= 'development'
+} else if (command === 'build') {
+  process.env.NODE_ENV ??= 'production'
+}
+
+const { webpackBundler } = await import('@vuepress/bundler-webpack')
+const { cli } = await import('@vuepress/cli')
 
 cli({ bundler: webpackBundler() })