diff --git a/packages/plugin-rsc/examples/react-router/cf/vite.config.ts b/packages/plugin-rsc/examples/react-router/cf/vite.config.ts
index 4f77cb175..a595713df 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-rsc/examples/react-router/cf/vite.config.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-rsc/examples/react-router/cf/vite.config.ts
@@ -43,12 +43,12 @@ export default defineConfig({
     },
     ssr: {
       optimizeDeps: {
-        exclude: ['react-router'],
+        exclude: ['react-router', 'react', 'react-dom'],
       },
     },
     rsc: {
       optimizeDeps: {
-        exclude: ['react-router'],
+        exclude: ['react-router', 'react', 'react-dom'],
       },
     },
   },
diff --git a/packages/plugin-rsc/examples/starter-cf-single/vite.config.ts b/packages/plugin-rsc/examples/starter-cf-single/vite.config.ts
index afb3648a8..5efd899b5 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-rsc/examples/starter-cf-single/vite.config.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-rsc/examples/starter-cf-single/vite.config.ts
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ export default defineConfig({
       },
       optimizeDeps: {
         include: ['turbo-stream'],
+        exclude: ['react', 'react-dom'],
       },
     },
     ssr: {
diff --git a/packages/plugin-rsc/src/plugin.ts b/packages/plugin-rsc/src/plugin.ts
index 1710dff01..3889ddf76 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-rsc/src/plugin.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-rsc/src/plugin.ts
@@ -365,15 +365,6 @@ export default function vitePluginRsc(
                 noExternal,
               },
               optimizeDeps: {
-                include: [
-                  'react',
-                  'react-dom',
-                  'react/jsx-runtime',
-                  'react/jsx-dev-runtime',
-                  'react-dom/server.edge',
-                  'react-dom/static.edge',
-                  `${REACT_SERVER_DOM_NAME}/client.edge`,
-                ],
                 exclude: [PKG_NAME],
               },
             },
@@ -392,14 +383,6 @@ export default function vitePluginRsc(
                 noExternal,
               },
               optimizeDeps: {
-                include: [
-                  'react',
-                  'react-dom',
-                  'react/jsx-runtime',
-                  'react/jsx-dev-runtime',
-                  `${REACT_SERVER_DOM_NAME}/server.edge`,
-                  `${REACT_SERVER_DOM_NAME}/client.edge`,
-                ],
                 exclude: [PKG_NAME],
               },
             },
@@ -976,6 +959,7 @@ import.meta.hot.on("rsc:update", () => {
         return code
       },
     ),
+    ...cjsModuleRunnerPlugin(),
     {
       // make `AsyncLocalStorage` available globally for React edge build (required for React.cache, ssr preload, etc.)
       // https://github.com/facebook/react/blob/f14d7f0d2597ea25da12bcf97772e8803f2a394c/packages/react-server/src/forks/ReactFlightServerConfig.dom-edge.js#L16-L19
@@ -1008,7 +992,6 @@ import.meta.hot.on("rsc:update", () => {
       ? [validateImportPlugin()]
       : []),
     scanBuildStripPlugin({ manager }),
-    ...cjsModuleRunnerPlugin(),
   ]
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/plugin-rsc/src/plugins/cjs.ts b/packages/plugin-rsc/src/plugins/cjs.ts
index dc0e62160..f167f185d 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-rsc/src/plugins/cjs.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-rsc/src/plugins/cjs.ts
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ export function cjsModuleRunnerPlugin(): Plugin[] {
       applyToEnvironment: (env) => env.config.dev.moduleRunnerTransform,
       async transform(code, id) {
         if (
-          id.includes('/node_modules/') &&
+          (id.includes('/node_modules/') || isDevCjs(id)) &&
           !id.startsWith(this.environment.config.cacheDir) &&
           /\b(require|exports)\b/.test(code)
         ) {
@@ -72,6 +72,10 @@ export default module.exports;
 }
 
 function extractPackageKey(id: string): string {
+  if (isDevCjs(id)) {
+    return '@vitejs/plugin-rsc'
+  }
+
   // .../.yarn/cache/abc/... => abc
   const yarnMatch = id.match(/\/.yarn\/cache\/([^/]+)/)
   if (yarnMatch) {
@@ -89,3 +93,11 @@ function extractPackageKey(id: string): string {
   }
   return id
 }
+
+// this is needed only when developing package itself within pnpm workspace
+function isDevCjs(id: string): boolean {
+  return (
+    !import.meta.url.includes('/node_modules/') &&
+    id.includes('/vendor/react-server-dom/')
+  )
+}