diff --git a/packages/nuxi/src/utils/kit.ts b/packages/nuxi/src/utils/kit.ts
index c757c79257..9a6a8bff54 100644
--- a/packages/nuxi/src/utils/kit.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxi/src/utils/kit.ts
@@ -1,12 +1,24 @@
-import { importModule } from './esm'
+import { importModule, tryResolveModule } from './esm'
 
 export const loadKit = async (rootDir: string): Promise<typeof import('@nuxt/kit')> => {
   try {
-    return await importModule('@nuxt/kit', rootDir) as typeof import('@nuxt/kit')
+    // Without PNP (or if users have a local install of kit, we bypass resolving from nuxt)
+    const localKit = await tryResolveModule('@nuxt/kit', rootDir)
+    // Otherwise, we resolve Nuxt _first_ as it is Nuxt's kit dependency that will be used
+    const rootURL = localKit ? rootDir : await tryResolveNuxt() || rootDir
+    return await importModule('@nuxt/kit', rootURL) as typeof import('@nuxt/kit')
   } catch (e: any) {
     if (e.toString().includes("Cannot find module '@nuxt/kit'")) {
-      throw new Error('nuxi requires `@nuxt/kit` to be installed in your project. Try installing `nuxt3` or `@nuxt/bridge` first.')
+      throw new Error('nuxi requires `@nuxt/kit` to be installed in your project. Try installing `nuxt` v3 or `@nuxt/bridge` first.')
     }
     throw e
   }
 }
+
+async function tryResolveNuxt () {
+  for (const pkg of ['nuxt3', 'nuxt', 'nuxt-edge']) {
+    const path = await tryResolveModule(pkg)
+    if (path) { return path }
+  }
+  return null
+}