diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/terser.ts b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/terser.ts
index 3ead4b3ad06dda..e94fd792e51249 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/terser.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/terser.ts
@@ -1,14 +1,17 @@
+import { pathToFileURL } from 'url'
 import { Worker } from 'okie'
 import type { Terser } from 'types/terser'
 import type { Plugin } from '../plugin'
 import type { ResolvedConfig } from '..'
 import { requireResolveFromRootWithFallback } from '../utils'
 
-let terserPath: string | undefined
-const loadTerserPath = (root: string) => {
-  if (terserPath) return terserPath
+let terserFileUrl: URL | undefined
+const loadTerserFileUrl = (root: string) => {
+  if (terserFileUrl) return terserFileUrl
   try {
-    terserPath = requireResolveFromRootWithFallback(root, 'terser')
+    terserFileUrl = pathToFileURL(
+      requireResolveFromRootWithFallback(root, 'terser')
+    )
   } catch (e) {
     if (e.code === 'MODULE_NOT_FOUND') {
       throw new Error(
@@ -20,19 +23,18 @@ const loadTerserPath = (root: string) => {
       throw message
     }
   }
-  return terserPath
+  return terserFileUrl
 }
 
 export function terserPlugin(config: ResolvedConfig): Plugin {
   const makeWorker = () =>
     new Worker(
       async (
-        terserPath: string,
+        terserFileUrl: string,
         code: string,
         options: Terser.MinifyOptions
       ) => {
-        // eslint-disable-next-line no-restricted-globals -- this function runs inside cjs
-        const terser = require(terserPath)
+        const terser = await import(terserFileUrl)
         return terser.minify(code, options) as Terser.MinifyOutput
       }
     )
@@ -63,8 +65,8 @@ export function terserPlugin(config: ResolvedConfig): Plugin {
       // Lazy load worker.
       worker ||= makeWorker()
 
-      const terserPath = loadTerserPath(config.root)
-      const res = await worker.run(terserPath, code, {
+      const terserFileUrl = loadTerserFileUrl(config.root)
+      const res = await worker.run(terserFileUrl.href, code, {
         safari10: true,
         ...config.build.terserOptions,
         sourceMap: !!outputOptions.sourcemap,