diff --git a/packages/webpack/src/configs/client.ts b/packages/webpack/src/configs/client.ts
index 37b06bcc9c..6d8e3d59ee 100644
--- a/packages/webpack/src/configs/client.ts
+++ b/packages/webpack/src/configs/client.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 import querystring from 'node:querystring'
+import { pathToFileURL } from 'node:url'
 import { resolve } from 'pathe'
 import webpack from 'webpack'
 import { BundleAnalyzerPlugin } from 'webpack-bundle-analyzer'
-import { logger } from '@nuxt/kit'
+import { logger, tryResolveModule } from '@nuxt/kit'
 import { joinURL } from 'ufo'
 import ForkTSCheckerWebpackPlugin from 'fork-ts-checker-webpack-plugin'
 
@@ -46,7 +47,7 @@ function clientPerformance (ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
   }
 }
 
-function clientHMR (ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
+async function clientHMR (ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
   if (!ctx.isDev) {
     return
   }
@@ -65,9 +66,10 @@ function clientHMR (ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
 
   // Add HMR support
   const app = (ctx.config.entry as any).app as any
+  const hotMiddlewarePath = await tryResolveModule('webpack-hot-middleware/client', import.meta.url) || 'webpack-hot-middleware/client'
   app.unshift(
     // https://github.com/glenjamin/webpack-hot-middleware#config
-    `webpack-hot-middleware/client?${hotMiddlewareClientOptionsStr}`
+    `${pathToFileURL(hotMiddlewarePath)}?${hotMiddlewareClientOptionsStr}`
   )
 
   ctx.config.plugins = ctx.config.plugins || []
diff --git a/packages/webpack/src/presets/assets.ts b/packages/webpack/src/presets/assets.ts
index 9195c05031..f55a3736fc 100644
--- a/packages/webpack/src/presets/assets.ts
+++ b/packages/webpack/src/presets/assets.ts
@@ -1,12 +1,13 @@
+import { tryResolveModule } from '@nuxt/kit'
 import type { WebpackConfigContext } from '../utils/config'
 import { fileName } from '../utils/config'
 
-export function assets (ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
+export async function assets (ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
   ctx.config.module!.rules!.push(
     {
       test: /\.(png|jpe?g|gif|svg|webp)$/i,
       use: [{
-        loader: 'url-loader',
+        loader: await tryResolveModule('url-loader', import.meta.url) ?? 'url-loader',
         options: {
           ...ctx.userConfig.loaders.imgUrl,
           name: fileName(ctx, 'img')
@@ -16,7 +17,7 @@ export function assets (ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
     {
       test: /\.(woff2?|eot|ttf|otf)(\?.*)?$/i,
       use: [{
-        loader: 'url-loader',
+        loader: await tryResolveModule('url-loader', import.meta.url) ?? 'url-loader',
         options: {
           ...ctx.userConfig.loaders.fontUrl,
           name: fileName(ctx, 'font')
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ export function assets (ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
     {
       test: /\.(webm|mp4|ogv)$/i,
       use: [{
-        loader: 'file-loader',
+        loader: await tryResolveModule('file-loader', import.meta.url) ?? 'file-loader',
         options: {
           ...ctx.userConfig.loaders.file,
           name: fileName(ctx, 'video')
diff --git a/packages/webpack/src/presets/base.ts b/packages/webpack/src/presets/base.ts
index ffcfb17930..d4839f4e1f 100644
--- a/packages/webpack/src/presets/base.ts
+++ b/packages/webpack/src/presets/base.ts
@@ -133,6 +133,8 @@ function baseResolve (ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
   // TODO: this might be refactored as default modulesDir?
   const webpackModulesDir = ['node_modules'].concat(ctx.options.modulesDir)
 
+  // console.log({webpackModulesDir})
+
   ctx.config.resolve = {
     extensions: ['.wasm', '.mjs', '.js', '.ts', '.json', '.vue', '.jsx', '.tsx'],
     alias: ctx.alias,
@@ -142,7 +144,7 @@ function baseResolve (ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
   }
 
   ctx.config.resolveLoader = {
-    modules: webpackModulesDir,
+    // modules: webpackModulesDir,
     ...ctx.config.resolveLoader
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/webpack/src/presets/esbuild.ts b/packages/webpack/src/presets/esbuild.ts
index 6c3155fc41..d821dac7ef 100644
--- a/packages/webpack/src/presets/esbuild.ts
+++ b/packages/webpack/src/presets/esbuild.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import { EsbuildPlugin } from 'esbuild-loader'
+import { tryResolveModule } from '@nuxt/kit'
 import type { WebpackConfigContext } from '../utils/config'
 
-export function esbuild (ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
+export async function esbuild (ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
   // https://esbuild.github.io/getting-started/#bundling-for-the-browser
   // https://gs.statcounter.com/browser-version-market-share
   // https://nodejs.org/en/
@@ -13,7 +14,7 @@ export function esbuild (ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
   ctx.config.module!.rules!.push(
     {
       test: /\.m?[jt]s$/i,
-      loader: 'esbuild-loader',
+      loader: await tryResolveModule('esbuild-loader', import.meta.url) ?? 'esbuild-loader',
       exclude: (file) => {
         // Not exclude files outside node_modules
         file = file.split('node_modules', 2)[1]
@@ -32,7 +33,7 @@ export function esbuild (ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
     },
     {
       test: /\.m?[jt]sx$/,
-      loader: 'esbuild-loader',
+      loader: await tryResolveModule('esbuild-loader', import.meta.url) ?? 'esbuild-loader',
       options: {
         target,
         ...ctx.nuxt.options.webpack.loaders.esbuild,
diff --git a/packages/webpack/src/presets/pug.ts b/packages/webpack/src/presets/pug.ts
index c98a612297..fb9c51b394 100644
--- a/packages/webpack/src/presets/pug.ts
+++ b/packages/webpack/src/presets/pug.ts
@@ -1,13 +1,14 @@
+import { tryResolveModule } from '@nuxt/kit'
 import type { WebpackConfigContext } from '../utils/config'
 
-export function pug (ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
+export async function pug (ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
   ctx.config.module!.rules!.push({
     test: /\.pug$/i,
     oneOf: [
       {
         resourceQuery: /^\?vue/i,
         use: [{
-          loader: 'pug-plain-loader',
+          loader: await tryResolveModule('pug-plain-loader', import.meta.url) ?? 'pug-plain-loader',
           options: ctx.userConfig.loaders.pugPlain
         }]
       },
@@ -15,7 +16,7 @@ export function pug (ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
         use: [
           'raw-loader',
           {
-            loader: 'pug-plain-loader',
+            loader: await tryResolveModule('pug-plain-loader', import.meta.url) ?? 'pug-plain-loader',
             options: ctx.userConfig.loaders.pugPlain
           }
         ]
diff --git a/packages/webpack/src/presets/style.ts b/packages/webpack/src/presets/style.ts
index 41f700f3de..a305ae361c 100644
--- a/packages/webpack/src/presets/style.ts
+++ b/packages/webpack/src/presets/style.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import MiniCssExtractPlugin from 'mini-css-extract-plugin'
 import CssMinimizerPlugin from 'css-minimizer-webpack-plugin'
+import { tryResolveModule } from '@nuxt/kit'
 import type { WebpackConfigContext } from '../utils/config'
 import { applyPresets, fileName } from '../utils/config'
 import { getPostcssConfig } from '../utils/postcss'
@@ -31,32 +32,32 @@ function extractCSS (ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
   }
 }
 
-function loaders (ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
+async function loaders (ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
   // CSS
-  ctx.config.module!.rules!.push(createdStyleRule('css', /\.css$/i, null, ctx))
+  ctx.config.module!.rules!.push(await createdStyleRule('css', /\.css$/i, null, ctx))
 
   // PostCSS
-  ctx.config.module!.rules!.push(createdStyleRule('postcss', /\.p(ost)?css$/i, null, ctx))
+  ctx.config.module!.rules!.push(await createdStyleRule('postcss', /\.p(ost)?css$/i, null, ctx))
 
   // Less
-  const lessLoader = { loader: 'less-loader', options: ctx.userConfig.loaders.less }
-  ctx.config.module!.rules!.push(createdStyleRule('less', /\.less$/i, lessLoader, ctx))
+  const lessLoader = { loader: await tryResolveModule('less-loader', import.meta.url) ?? 'less-loader', options: ctx.userConfig.loaders.less }
+  ctx.config.module!.rules!.push(await createdStyleRule('less', /\.less$/i, lessLoader, ctx))
 
   // Sass (TODO: optional dependency)
-  const sassLoader = { loader: 'sass-loader', options: ctx.userConfig.loaders.sass }
-  ctx.config.module!.rules!.push(createdStyleRule('sass', /\.sass$/i, sassLoader, ctx))
+  const sassLoader = { loader: await tryResolveModule('sass-loader', import.meta.url) ?? 'sass-loader', options: ctx.userConfig.loaders.sass }
+  ctx.config.module!.rules!.push(await createdStyleRule('sass', /\.sass$/i, sassLoader, ctx))
 
-  const scssLoader = { loader: 'sass-loader', options: ctx.userConfig.loaders.scss }
-  ctx.config.module!.rules!.push(createdStyleRule('scss', /\.scss$/i, scssLoader, ctx))
+  const scssLoader = { loader: await tryResolveModule('sass-loader', import.meta.url) ?? 'sass-loader', options: ctx.userConfig.loaders.scss }
+  ctx.config.module!.rules!.push(await createdStyleRule('scss', /\.scss$/i, scssLoader, ctx))
 
   // Stylus
-  const stylusLoader = { loader: 'stylus-loader', options: ctx.userConfig.loaders.stylus }
-  ctx.config.module!.rules!.push(createdStyleRule('stylus', /\.styl(us)?$/i, stylusLoader, ctx))
+  const stylusLoader = { loader: await tryResolveModule('stylus-loader', import.meta.url) ?? 'stylus-loader', options: ctx.userConfig.loaders.stylus }
+  ctx.config.module!.rules!.push(await createdStyleRule('stylus', /\.styl(us)?$/i, stylusLoader, ctx))
 }
 
-function createdStyleRule (lang: string, test: RegExp, processorLoader: any, ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
+async function createdStyleRule (lang: string, test: RegExp, processorLoader: any, ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
   const styleLoaders = [
-    createPostcssLoadersRule(ctx),
+    await createPostcssLoadersRule(ctx),
     processorLoader
   ].filter(Boolean)
 
@@ -64,8 +65,8 @@ function createdStyleRule (lang: string, test: RegExp, processorLoader: any, ctx
     ctx.userConfig.loaders.cssModules.importLoaders =
     styleLoaders.length
 
-  const cssLoaders = createCssLoadersRule(ctx, ctx.userConfig.loaders.css)
-  const cssModuleLoaders = createCssLoadersRule(ctx, ctx.userConfig.loaders.cssModules)
+  const cssLoaders = await createCssLoadersRule(ctx, ctx.userConfig.loaders.css)
+  const cssModuleLoaders = await createCssLoadersRule(ctx, ctx.userConfig.loaders.cssModules)
 
   return {
     test,
@@ -83,8 +84,8 @@ function createdStyleRule (lang: string, test: RegExp, processorLoader: any, ctx
   }
 }
 
-function createCssLoadersRule (ctx: WebpackConfigContext, cssLoaderOptions: any) {
-  const cssLoader = { loader: 'css-loader', options: cssLoaderOptions }
+async function createCssLoadersRule (ctx: WebpackConfigContext, cssLoaderOptions: any) {
+  const cssLoader = { loader: await tryResolveModule('css-loader', import.meta.url) ?? 'css-loader', options: cssLoaderOptions }
 
   if (ctx.userConfig.extractCSS) {
     if (ctx.isServer) {
@@ -106,14 +107,14 @@ function createCssLoadersRule (ctx: WebpackConfigContext, cssLoaderOptions: any)
   return [
     // https://github.com/vuejs/vue-style-loader/issues/56
     // {
-    //   loader: 'vue-style-loader',
+    //   loader: await tryResolveModule('vue-style-loader', import.meta.url) ?? 'vue-style-loader',
     //   options: options.webpack.loaders.vueStyle
     // },
     cssLoader
   ]
 }
 
-function createPostcssLoadersRule (ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
+async function createPostcssLoadersRule (ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
   if (!ctx.options.postcss) { return }
 
   const config = getPostcssConfig(ctx.nuxt)
@@ -123,7 +124,7 @@ function createPostcssLoadersRule (ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
   }
 
   return {
-    loader: 'postcss-loader',
+    loader: await tryResolveModule('postcss-loader', import.meta.url) ?? 'postcss-loader',
     options: config
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/webpack/src/presets/vue.ts b/packages/webpack/src/presets/vue.ts
index badc026655..eb21736bf9 100644
--- a/packages/webpack/src/presets/vue.ts
+++ b/packages/webpack/src/presets/vue.ts
@@ -1,17 +1,18 @@
 import { resolve } from 'pathe'
 import VueLoaderPlugin from 'vue-loader/dist/pluginWebpack5.js'
 import webpack from 'webpack'
+import { tryResolveModule } from '@nuxt/kit'
 import VueSSRClientPlugin from '../plugins/vue/client'
 import VueSSRServerPlugin from '../plugins/vue/server'
 import type { WebpackConfigContext } from '../utils/config'
 
-export function vue (ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
+export async function vue (ctx: WebpackConfigContext) {
   // @ts-expect-error de-default vue-loader
   ctx.config.plugins!.push(new (VueLoaderPlugin.default || VueLoaderPlugin)())
 
   ctx.config.module!.rules!.push({
     test: /\.vue$/i,
-    loader: 'vue-loader',
+    loader: await tryResolveModule('vue-loader', import.meta.url) ?? 'vue-loader',
     options: {
       reactivityTransform: ctx.nuxt.options.experimental.reactivityTransform,
       ...ctx.userConfig.loaders.vue
diff --git a/test/fixtures/basic/nuxt.config.ts b/test/fixtures/basic/nuxt.config.ts
index f63a5e15a7..f92c57667c 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/basic/nuxt.config.ts
+++ b/test/fixtures/basic/nuxt.config.ts
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ export default defineNuxtConfig({
       // in order to test bigint serialisation we need to set target to a more modern one
       for (const config of configs) {
         const esbuildRules = config.module!.rules!.filter(
-          rule => typeof rule === 'object' && rule && 'loader' in rule && rule.loader === 'esbuild-loader'
+          rule => typeof rule === 'object' && rule && 'loader' in rule && rule.loader?.includes('esbuild-loader')
         )
         for (const rule of esbuildRules) {
           if (typeof rule === 'object' && typeof rule.options === 'object') {