diff --git a/packages/angular/build/src/builders/dev-server/vite-server.ts b/packages/angular/build/src/builders/dev-server/vite-server.ts
index 39b27b2bd6c7..222ca6eea05a 100644
--- a/packages/angular/build/src/builders/dev-server/vite-server.ts
+++ b/packages/angular/build/src/builders/dev-server/vite-server.ts
@@ -803,6 +803,25 @@ function getDepOptimizationConfig({
   thirdPartySourcemaps: boolean;
 }): DepOptimizationConfig {
   const plugins: ViteEsBuildPlugin[] = [
+    {
+      name: 'angular-browser-node-built-in',
+      setup(build) {
+        // This namespace is configured by vite.
+        build.onLoad({ filter: /.*/, namespace: 'browser-external' }, (args) => {
+          if (!isBuiltin(args.path)) {
+            return;
+          }
+
+          return {
+            errors: [
+              {
+                text: `The package "${args.path}" wasn't found on the file system but is built into node.`,
+              },
+            ],
+          };
+        });
+      },
+    },
     {
       name: `angular-vite-optimize-deps${ssr ? '-ssr' : ''}${
         thirdPartySourcemaps ? '-vendor-sourcemap' : ''
diff --git a/tests/legacy-cli/e2e/tests/vite/browser-node-module-dep-error.ts b/tests/legacy-cli/e2e/tests/vite/browser-node-module-dep-error.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a5edd167116c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/legacy-cli/e2e/tests/vite/browser-node-module-dep-error.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import assert from 'node:assert';
+import { execAndWaitForOutputToMatch, ng } from '../../utils/process';
+import { installPackage } from '../../utils/packages';
+import { writeFile } from '../../utils/fs';
+
+export default async function () {
+  await ng('cache', 'clean');
+  await ng('cache', 'on');
+
+  await installPackage('express@4');
+  await writeFile('src/main.ts', `import 'express';`);
+
+  const { stderr } = await execAndWaitForOutputToMatch('ng', ['serve', '--port=0'], /ERROR/, {
+    CI: '0',
+    NO_COLOR: 'true',
+  });
+
+  assert.match(stderr, /The package "http" wasn't found on the file system but is built into node/);
+}