diff --git a/packages/shared-internals/src/colocation.ts b/packages/shared-internals/src/colocation.ts
index 84c04167f..7ab261827 100644
--- a/packages/shared-internals/src/colocation.ts
+++ b/packages/shared-internals/src/colocation.ts
@@ -14,18 +14,13 @@ export function syntheticJStoHBS(source: string): string | null {
   return null;
 }
 
-export function needsSyntheticComponentJS(
-  requestedSpecifier: string,
-  foundFile: string,
-  packageCache?: Pick<PackageCache, 'ownerOfFile'>
-): string | null {
+export function needsSyntheticComponentJS(requestedSpecifier: string, foundFile: string): string | null {
   requestedSpecifier = cleanUrl(requestedSpecifier);
   foundFile = cleanUrl(foundFile);
   if (
     discoveredImplicitHBS(requestedSpecifier, foundFile) &&
     !foundFile.split(sep).join('/').endsWith('/template.hbs') &&
-    !correspondingJSExists(foundFile) &&
-    isInComponents(foundFile, packageCache)
+    !correspondingJSExists(foundFile)
   ) {
     return foundFile.slice(0, -3) + 'js';
   }
@@ -40,8 +35,8 @@ function correspondingJSExists(id: string): boolean {
   return ['js', 'ts'].some(ext => existsSync(id.slice(0, -3) + ext));
 }
 
-function isInComponents(id: string, packageCache?: Pick<PackageCache, 'ownerOfFile'>) {
-  if (!packageCache) return true;
+export function isInComponents(url: string, packageCache: Pick<PackageCache, 'ownerOfFile'>) {
+  const id = cleanUrl(url);
   const pkg = packageCache.ownerOfFile(id);
   return pkg?.isV2App() && id.slice(pkg?.root.length).split(sep).join('/').startsWith('/components');
 }
diff --git a/packages/vite/src/esbuild-resolver.ts b/packages/vite/src/esbuild-resolver.ts
index 9255500fc..1d35c3407 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/esbuild-resolver.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/esbuild-resolver.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import type { Plugin as EsBuildPlugin, OnLoadResult } from 'esbuild';
 import { transform } from '@babel/core';
-import { ResolverLoader, virtualContent, needsSyntheticComponentJS } from '@embroider/core';
+import { ResolverLoader, virtualContent, needsSyntheticComponentJS, isInComponents } from '@embroider/core';
 import { readFileSync } from 'fs-extra';
 import { EsBuildModuleRequest } from './esbuild-request';
 import assertNever from 'assert-never';
@@ -80,8 +80,8 @@ export function esBuildResolver(): EsBuildPlugin {
         });
 
         if (result.errors.length === 0 && !result.external) {
-          let syntheticPath = needsSyntheticComponentJS(path, result.path, resolverLoader.resolver.packageCache);
-          if (syntheticPath) {
+          let syntheticPath = needsSyntheticComponentJS(path, result.path);
+          if (syntheticPath && isInComponents(path, resolverLoader.resolver.packageCache)) {
             return { path: syntheticPath, namespace: 'embroider-template-only-component' };
           }
         }
diff --git a/packages/vite/src/hbs.ts b/packages/vite/src/hbs.ts
index 20bb9791c..2b3acf784 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/hbs.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/hbs.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import {
   hbsToJS,
   ResolverLoader,
   needsSyntheticComponentJS,
+  isInComponents,
   templateOnlyComponentSource,
   syntheticJStoHBS,
 } from '@embroider/core';
@@ -58,8 +59,8 @@ export function hbs(): Plugin {
         }
       }
 
-      let syntheticId = needsSyntheticComponentJS(source, resolution.id, resolverLoader.resolver.packageCache);
-      if (syntheticId) {
+      let syntheticId = needsSyntheticComponentJS(source, resolution.id);
+      if (syntheticId && isInComponents(resolution.id, resolverLoader.resolver.packageCache)) {
         return {
           id: syntheticId,
           meta: {