diff --git a/packages/nuxt/src/core/runtime/nitro/renderer.ts b/packages/nuxt/src/core/runtime/nitro/renderer.ts
index ebd84414a7..4fc1f2839f 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt/src/core/runtime/nitro/renderer.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt/src/core/runtime/nitro/renderer.ts
@@ -455,6 +455,9 @@ export default defineRenderHandler(async (event): Promise<Partial<RenderResponse
         type: resource.module ? 'module' : null,
         src: renderer.rendererContext.buildAssetsURL(resource.file),
         defer: resource.module ? null : true,
+        // if we are rendering script tag payloads that import an async payload
+        // we need to ensure this resolves before executing the Nuxt entry
+        tagPosition: (_PAYLOAD_EXTRACTION && !process.env.NUXT_JSON_PAYLOADS) ? 'bodyClose' : 'head',
         crossorigin: '',
       })),
     }, headEntryOptions)
diff --git a/test/bundle.test.ts b/test/bundle.test.ts
index b536e3a699..eef4b4f717 100644
--- a/test/bundle.test.ts
+++ b/test/bundle.test.ts
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ describe.skipIf(process.env.SKIP_BUNDLE_SIZE === 'true' || process.env.ECOSYSTEM
     const serverDir = join(rootDir, '.output/server')
 
     const serverStats = await analyzeSizes(['**/*.mjs', '!node_modules'], serverDir)
-    expect.soft(roundToKilobytes(serverStats.totalBytes)).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`"208k"`)
+    expect.soft(roundToKilobytes(serverStats.totalBytes)).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`"209k"`)
 
     const modules = await analyzeSizes('node_modules/**/*', serverDir)
     expect.soft(roundToKilobytes(modules.totalBytes)).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`"1338k"`)