diff --git a/packages/nuxt/src/app/components/nuxt-island.ts b/packages/nuxt/src/app/components/nuxt-island.ts
index f849e6b99c..c9a4619c54 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt/src/app/components/nuxt-island.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt/src/app/components/nuxt-island.ts
@@ -248,9 +248,10 @@ export default defineComponent({
 
     if (import.meta.server || nuxtApp.isHydrating) {
       // re-push head into active head instance
-      (nuxtApp.payload.data[`${props.name}_${hashId.value}`] as NuxtIslandResponse)?.head?.forEach((h) => {
-        head.push(h)
-      })
+      const responseHead = (nuxtApp.payload.data[`${props.name}_${hashId.value}`] as NuxtIslandResponse)?.head
+      if (responseHead) {
+        head.push(responseHead)
+      }
     }
 
     return (_ctx: any, _cache: any) => {
diff --git a/packages/nuxt/src/core/runtime/nitro/renderer.ts b/packages/nuxt/src/core/runtime/nitro/renderer.ts
index 4d41ca0d5e..3c5c34d5b2 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt/src/core/runtime/nitro/renderer.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt/src/core/runtime/nitro/renderer.ts
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ export interface NuxtIslandContext {
 export interface NuxtIslandResponse {
   id?: string
   html: string
-  head: Head[]
+  head: Head
   props?: Record<string, Record<string, any>>
   components?: Record<string, NuxtIslandClientResponse>
   slots?: Record<string, NuxtIslandSlotResponse>
@@ -461,9 +461,24 @@ export default defineRenderHandler(async (event): Promise<Partial<RenderResponse
 
   // Response for component islands
   if (isRenderingIsland && islandContext) {
+    const islandHead: Head = {}
+    for (const entry of head.headEntries()) {
+      for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(resolveUnrefHeadInput(entry.input) as Head)) {
+        const currentValue = islandHead[key as keyof Head]
+        if (Array.isArray(currentValue)) {
+          currentValue.push(...value)
+        }
+        islandHead[key as keyof Head] = value
+      }
+    }
+
+    // TODO: remove for v4
+    islandHead.link = islandHead.link || []
+    islandHead.style = islandHead.style || []
+
     const islandResponse: NuxtIslandResponse = {
       id: islandContext.id,
-      head: (head.headEntries().map(h => resolveUnrefHeadInput(h.input) as Head)),
+      head: islandHead,
       html: getServerComponentHTML(_rendered.html),
       components: getClientIslandResponse(ssrContext),
       slots: getSlotIslandResponse(ssrContext),
diff --git a/test/basic.test.ts b/test/basic.test.ts
index a0f440756d..303b7ce9f2 100644
--- a/test/basic.test.ts
+++ b/test/basic.test.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import { $fetch as _$fetch, createPage, fetch, isDev, setup, startServer, url, u
 import { $fetchComponent } from '@nuxt/test-utils/experimental'
 
 import { resolveUnrefHeadInput } from '@unhead/vue'
-import { expectNoClientErrors, expectWithPolling, gotoPath, isRenderingJson, parseData, parsePayload, renderPage, resolveHead } from './utils'
+import { expectNoClientErrors, expectWithPolling, gotoPath, isRenderingJson, parseData, parsePayload, renderPage } from './utils'
 
 import type { NuxtIslandResponse } from '#app'
 
@@ -2145,15 +2145,15 @@ describe('component islands', () => {
 
     result.html = result.html.replace(/ data-island-uid="[^"]*"/g, '')
     if (isDev()) {
-      result.head = resolveHead(result.head).map(h => ({
-        ...h,
-        link: h.link?.filter(l => typeof l.href !== 'string' || (!l.href.includes('_nuxt/components/islands/RouteComponent') && !l.href.includes('PureComponent') /* TODO: fix dev bug triggered by previous fetch of /islands */)),
-      })).filter(h => Object.values(h).some(h => !Array.isArray(h) || h.length))
+      result.head.link = result.head.link?.filter(l => typeof l.href !== 'string' || (!l.href.includes('_nuxt/components/islands/RouteComponent') && !l.href.includes('PureComponent') /* TODO: fix dev bug triggered by previous fetch of /islands */))
     }
 
     expect(result).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
       {
-        "head": [],
+        "head": {
+          "link": [],
+          "style": [],
+        },
         "html": "<pre data-island-uid>    Route: /foo
         </pre>",
       }
@@ -2167,15 +2167,15 @@ describe('component islands', () => {
       }),
     }))
     if (isDev()) {
-      result.head = resolveHead(result.head).map(h => ({
-        ...h,
-        link: h.link?.filter(l => typeof l.href !== 'string' || (!l.href.includes('_nuxt/components/islands/LongAsyncComponent') && !l.href.includes('PureComponent') /* TODO: fix dev bug triggered by previous fetch of /islands */)),
-      })).filter(h => Object.values(h).some(h => !Array.isArray(h) || h.length))
+      result.head.link = result.head.link?.filter(l => typeof l.href !== 'string' || (!l.href.includes('_nuxt/components/islands/LongAsyncComponent') && !l.href.includes('PureComponent') /* TODO: fix dev bug triggered by previous fetch of /islands */))
     }
     result.html = result.html.replaceAll(/ (data-island-uid|data-island-component)="([^"]*)"/g, '')
     expect(result).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
       {
-        "head": [],
+        "head": {
+          "link": [],
+          "style": [],
+        },
         "html": "<div data-island-uid><div> count is above 2 </div><!--[--><div style="display: contents;" data-island-uid data-island-slot="default"><!--teleport start--><!--teleport end--></div><!--]--> that was very long ... <div id="long-async-component-count">3</div>  <!--[--><div style="display: contents;" data-island-uid data-island-slot="test"><!--teleport start--><!--teleport end--></div><!--]--><p>hello world !!!</p><!--[--><div style="display: contents;" data-island-uid data-island-slot="hello"><!--teleport start--><!--teleport end--></div><!--teleport start--><!--teleport end--><!--]--><!--[--><div style="display: contents;" data-island-uid data-island-slot="fallback"><!--teleport start--><!--teleport end--></div><!--teleport start--><!--teleport end--><!--]--></div>",
         "slots": {
           "default": {
@@ -2225,10 +2225,7 @@ describe('component islands', () => {
       }),
     }))
     if (isDev()) {
-      result.head = result.head.map(h => ({
-        ...h,
-        link: h.link?.filter(l => typeof l.href === 'string' && !l.href.includes('PureComponent') /* TODO: fix dev bug triggered by previous fetch of /islands */ && (!l.href.startsWith('_nuxt/components/islands/') || l.href.includes('AsyncServerComponent'))),
-      })).filter(h => Object.values(h).some(h => !Array.isArray(h) || h.length))
+      result.head.link = result.head.link?.filter(l => typeof l.href === 'string' && !l.href.includes('PureComponent') /* TODO: fix dev bug triggered by previous fetch of /islands */ && (!l.href.startsWith('_nuxt/components/islands/') || l.href.includes('AsyncServerComponent')))
     }
     result.props = {}
     result.components = {}
@@ -2238,7 +2235,10 @@ describe('component islands', () => {
     expect(result).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
       {
         "components": {},
-        "head": [],
+        "head": {
+          "link": [],
+          "style": [],
+        },
         "html": "<div data-island-uid> This is a .server (20ms) async component that was very long ... <div id="async-server-component-count">2</div><div class="sugar-counter"> Sugar Counter 12 x 1 = 12 <button> Inc </button></div><!--[--><div style="display: contents;" data-island-uid data-island-slot="default"><!--teleport start--><!--teleport end--></div><!--]--></div>",
         "props": {},
         "slots": {},
@@ -2250,10 +2250,11 @@ describe('component islands', () => {
     it('render server component with selective client hydration', async () => {
       const result = await $fetch<NuxtIslandResponse>('/__nuxt_island/ServerWithClient')
       if (isDev()) {
-        result.head = resolveHead(result.head).map(h => ({
-          ...h,
-          link: h.link?.filter(l => typeof l.href !== 'string' || (!l.href.includes('_nuxt/components/islands/LongAsyncComponent') && !l.href.includes('PureComponent') /* TODO: fix dev bug triggered by previous fetch of /islands */)),
-        })).filter(h => Object.values(h).some(h => !Array.isArray(h) || h.length))
+        result.head.link = result.head.link?.filter(l => typeof l.href !== 'string' || (!l.href.includes('_nuxt/components/islands/LongAsyncComponent') && !l.href.includes('PureComponent') /* TODO: fix dev bug triggered by previous fetch of /islands */))
+
+        if (!result.head.link) {
+          delete result.head.link
+        }
       }
       const { components } = result
       result.components = {}
@@ -2265,7 +2266,10 @@ describe('component islands', () => {
       expect(result).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
         {
           "components": {},
-          "head": [],
+          "head": {
+            "link": [],
+            "style": [],
+          },
           "html": "<div data-island-uid> ServerWithClient.server.vue : <p>count: 0</p> This component should not be preloaded <div><!--[--><div>a</div><div>b</div><div>c</div><!--]--></div> This is not interactive <div class="sugar-counter"> Sugar Counter 12 x 1 = 12 <button> Inc </button></div><div class="interactive-component-wrapper" style="border:solid 1px red;"> The component below is not a slot but declared as interactive <!--[--><div style="display: contents;" data-island-uid data-island-component="Counter"></div><!--teleport start--><!--teleport end--><!--]--></div></div>",
           "slots": {},
         }
@@ -2294,16 +2298,14 @@ describe('component islands', () => {
 
     if (isDev()) {
       const fixtureDir = normalize(fileURLToPath(new URL('./fixtures/basic', import.meta.url)))
-      for (const head of result.head) {
-        for (const key in head) {
-          if (key === 'link') {
-            head[key] = head[key]?.map((h) => {
-              if (h.href) {
-                h.href = resolveUnrefHeadInput(h.href).replace(fixtureDir, '/<rootDir>').replaceAll('//', '/')
-              }
-              return h
-            })
-          }
+      for (const key in result.head) {
+        if (key === 'link') {
+          result.head[key] = result.head[key]?.map((h) => {
+            if (h.href) {
+              h.href = resolveUnrefHeadInput(h.href).replace(fixtureDir, '/<rootDir>').replaceAll('//', '/')
+            }
+            return h
+          })
         }
       }
     }
@@ -2311,35 +2313,30 @@ describe('component islands', () => {
     // TODO: fix rendering of styles in webpack
     if (!isDev() && !isWebpack) {
       expect(normaliseIslandResult(result).head).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
-        [
-          {
-            "style": [
-              {
-                "innerHTML": "pre[data-v-xxxxx]{color:blue}",
-              },
-            ],
-          },
-        ]
+        {
+          "link": [],
+          "style": [
+            {
+              "innerHTML": "pre[data-v-xxxxx]{color:blue}",
+            },
+          ],
+        }
       `)
     } else if (isDev() && !isWebpack) {
       // TODO: resolve dev bug triggered by earlier fetch of /vueuse-head page
       // https://github.com/nuxt/nuxt/blob/main/packages/nuxt/src/core/runtime/nitro/renderer.ts#L139
-      result.head = resolveHead(result.head).map(h => ({
-        ...h,
-        link: h.link?.filter(l => typeof l.href !== 'string' || !l.href.includes('SharedComponent')),
-      })).filter(h => Object.values(h).some(h => !Array.isArray(h) || h.length))
+      result.head.link = result.head.link?.filter(l => typeof l.href !== 'string' || !l.href.includes('SharedComponent'))
 
       expect(result.head).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
-        [
-          {
-            "link": [
-              {
-                "href": "/_nuxt/components/islands/PureComponent.vue?vue&type=style&index=0&scoped=c0c0cf89&lang.css",
-                "rel": "stylesheet",
-              },
-            ],
-          },
-        ]
+        {
+          "link": [
+            {
+              "href": "/_nuxt/components/islands/PureComponent.vue?vue&type=style&index=0&scoped=c0c0cf89&lang.css",
+              "rel": "stylesheet",
+            },
+          ],
+          "style": [],
+        }
       `)
     }
 
@@ -2684,24 +2681,19 @@ describe('Node.js compatibility for client-side', () => {
 })
 
 function normaliseIslandResult (result: NuxtIslandResponse) {
-  return {
-    ...result,
-    head: result.head.map((h) => {
-      if (h.style) {
-        for (const style of h.style) {
-          if (typeof style !== 'string') {
-            if (style.innerHTML) {
-              style.innerHTML = (style.innerHTML as string).replace(/data-v-[a-z0-9]+/g, 'data-v-xxxxx')
-            }
-            if (style.key) {
-              style.key = style.key.replace(/-[a-z0-9]+$/i, '')
-            }
-          }
+  if (result.head.style) {
+    for (const style of result.head.style) {
+      if (typeof style !== 'string') {
+        if (style.innerHTML) {
+          style.innerHTML = (style.innerHTML as string).replace(/data-v-[a-z0-9]+/g, 'data-v-xxxxx')
+        }
+        if (style.key) {
+          style.key = style.key.replace(/-[a-z0-9]+$/i, '')
         }
-        return h
       }
-    }),
+    }
   }
+  return result
 }
 
 describe('import components', () => {
diff --git a/test/utils.ts b/test/utils.ts
index 49a8587be0..3e21fb0c27 100644
--- a/test/utils.ts
+++ b/test/utils.ts
@@ -5,8 +5,6 @@ import { parse } from 'devalue'
 import { reactive, ref, shallowReactive, shallowRef } from 'vue'
 import { createError } from 'h3'
 import { getBrowser, url, useTestContext } from '@nuxt/test-utils/e2e'
-import type { Head } from '@unhead/vue'
-import { resolveUnrefHeadInput } from '@unhead/vue'
 
 export const isRenderingJson = process.env.TEST_PAYLOAD !== 'js'
 
@@ -128,7 +126,3 @@ export function parseData (html: string) {
     attrs: _attrs,
   }
 }
-
-export function resolveHead (head: Head[]) {
-  return head.map(i => resolveUnrefHeadInput(i) as Head)
-}