diff --git a/packages/nuxt/src/core/nuxt.ts b/packages/nuxt/src/core/nuxt.ts
index de2f18acc4..74cc1fb793 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt/src/core/nuxt.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt/src/core/nuxt.ts
@@ -176,6 +176,11 @@ async function initNuxt (nuxt: Nuxt) {
   // Add prerender payload support
   addPlugin(resolve(nuxt.options.appDir, 'plugins/payload.client'))
 
+  // Track components used to render for webpack
+  if (nuxt.options.builder === '@nuxt/webpack-builder') {
+    addPlugin(resolve(nuxt.options.appDir, 'plugins/preload.server'))
+  }
+
   for (const m of modulesToInstall) {
     if (Array.isArray(m)) {
       await installModule(m[0], m[1])
diff --git a/packages/nuxt/src/core/templates.ts b/packages/nuxt/src/core/templates.ts
index 2223c6a2cd..3dbf745dee 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt/src/core/templates.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt/src/core/templates.ts
@@ -68,8 +68,8 @@ export const serverPluginTemplate: NuxtTemplate<TemplateContext> = {
   filename: 'plugins/server.mjs',
   getContents (ctx) {
     const serverPlugins = ctx.app.plugins.filter(p => !p.mode || p.mode !== 'client')
-    const exports: string[] = ['preload']
-    const imports: string[] = ["import preload from '#app/plugins/preload.server'"]
+    const exports: string[] = []
+    const imports: string[] = []
     for (const plugin of serverPlugins) {
       const path = relative(ctx.nuxt.options.rootDir, plugin.src)
       const variable = genSafeVariableName(path).replace(/_(45|46|47)/g, '_') + '_' + hash(path)
diff --git a/packages/schema/src/config/build.ts b/packages/schema/src/config/build.ts
index 42e7bc9bba..0cd808958a 100644
--- a/packages/schema/src/config/build.ts
+++ b/packages/schema/src/config/build.ts
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ export default defineUntypedSchema({
         vite: '@nuxt/vite-builder',
         webpack: '@nuxt/webpack-builder',
       }
-      return map[val] || (await get('vite') === false ? map.webpack : map.vite)
+      return map[val] || val || (await get('vite') === false ? map.webpack : map.vite)
     }
   },
   /**
diff --git a/packages/schema/src/types/config.ts b/packages/schema/src/types/config.ts
index 0f8d67fb21..51047eb9af 100644
--- a/packages/schema/src/types/config.ts
+++ b/packages/schema/src/types/config.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { ConfigSchema } from '../../schema/config'
 import type { UserConfig as ViteUserConfig } from 'vite'
 import type { Options as VuePluginOptions } from '@vitejs/plugin-vue'
 import type { MetaObject } from './meta'
+import type { Nuxt } from './nuxt'
 
 type DeepPartial<T> = T extends Function ? T : T extends Record<string, any> ? { [P in keyof T]?: DeepPartial<T[P]> } : T
 
@@ -25,8 +26,9 @@ export type NuxtConfigLayer = ConfigLayer<NuxtConfig & {
 }>
 
 /** Normalized Nuxt options available as `nuxt.options.*` */
-export interface NuxtOptions extends ConfigSchema {
+export interface NuxtOptions extends Omit<ConfigSchema, 'builder'> {
   sourcemap: Required<Exclude<ConfigSchema['sourcemap'], boolean>>
+  builder: '@nuxt/vite-builder' | '@nuxt/webpack-builder' | { bundle: (nuxt: Nuxt) => Promise<void> }
   _layers: NuxtConfigLayer[]
 }