diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 0faa04b530..e5d3cc831b 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
     "lint:knip": "pnpx knip",
     "play": "nuxi dev playground",
     "play:build": "nuxi build playground",
+    "play:generate": "nuxi generate playground",
     "play:preview": "nuxi preview playground",
     "test": "pnpm test:fixtures && pnpm test:fixtures:dev && pnpm test:fixtures:webpack && pnpm test:unit && pnpm test:runtime && pnpm test:types && pnpm typecheck",
     "test:prepare": "jiti ./test/prepare.ts",
diff --git a/packages/nuxt/src/app/composables/payload.ts b/packages/nuxt/src/app/composables/payload.ts
index 921844f0bc..7a7d8fd2e7 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt/src/app/composables/payload.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt/src/app/composables/payload.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { hasProtocol, joinURL, withoutTrailingSlash } from 'ufo'
 import { parse } from 'devalue'
 import { useHead } from '@unhead/vue'
-import { getCurrentInstance } from 'vue'
+import { getCurrentInstance, onServerPrefetch } from 'vue'
 import { useNuxtApp, useRuntimeConfig } from '../nuxt'
 
 import { useRoute } from './router'
@@ -16,9 +16,9 @@ interface LoadPayloadOptions {
 }
 
 /** @since 3.0.0 */
-export function loadPayload (url: string, opts: LoadPayloadOptions = {}): Record<string, any> | Promise<Record<string, any>> | null {
+export async function loadPayload (url: string, opts: LoadPayloadOptions = {}): Promise<Record<string, any> | null> {
   if (import.meta.server || !payloadExtraction) { return null }
-  const payloadURL = _getPayloadURL(url, opts)
+  const payloadURL = await _getPayloadURL(url, opts)
   const nuxtApp = useNuxtApp()
   const cache = nuxtApp._payloadCache = nuxtApp._payloadCache || {}
   if (payloadURL in cache) {
@@ -39,26 +39,34 @@ export function loadPayload (url: string, opts: LoadPayloadOptions = {}): Record
   return cache[payloadURL]
 }
 /** @since 3.0.0 */
-export function preloadPayload (url: string, opts: LoadPayloadOptions = {}) {
-  const payloadURL = _getPayloadURL(url, opts)
-  useHead({
-    link: [
-      { rel: 'modulepreload', href: payloadURL },
-    ],
+export function preloadPayload (url: string, opts: LoadPayloadOptions = {}): Promise<void> {
+  const nuxtApp = useNuxtApp()
+  const promise = _getPayloadURL(url, opts).then((payloadURL) => {
+    nuxtApp.runWithContext(() => useHead({
+      link: [
+        { rel: 'modulepreload', href: payloadURL },
+      ],
+    }))
   })
+  if (import.meta.server) {
+    onServerPrefetch(() => promise)
+  }
+  return promise
 }
 
 // --- Internal ---
 
 const filename = renderJsonPayloads ? '_payload.json' : '_payload.js'
-function _getPayloadURL (url: string, opts: LoadPayloadOptions = {}) {
+async function _getPayloadURL (url: string, opts: LoadPayloadOptions = {}) {
   const u = new URL(url, 'http://localhost')
   if (u.host !== 'localhost' || hasProtocol(u.pathname, { acceptRelative: true })) {
     throw new Error('Payload URL must not include hostname: ' + url)
   }
   const config = useRuntimeConfig()
   const hash = opts.hash || (opts.fresh ? Date.now() : config.app.buildId)
-  return joinURL(config.app.baseURL, u.pathname, filename + (hash ? `?${hash}` : ''))
+  const cdnURL = config.app.cdnURL
+  const baseOrCdnURL = cdnURL && await isPrerendered(url) ? cdnURL : config.app.baseURL
+  return joinURL(baseOrCdnURL, u.pathname, filename + (hash ? `?${hash}` : ''))
 }
 
 async function _importPayload (payloadURL: string) {
diff --git a/packages/nuxt/src/core/runtime/nitro/renderer.ts b/packages/nuxt/src/core/runtime/nitro/renderer.ts
index f0a2e5a9dc..ebd84414a7 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt/src/core/runtime/nitro/renderer.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt/src/core/runtime/nitro/renderer.ts
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@ export default defineRenderHandler(async (event): Promise<Partial<RenderResponse
 
   // Whether we are prerendering route
   const _PAYLOAD_EXTRACTION = import.meta.prerender && process.env.NUXT_PAYLOAD_EXTRACTION && !ssrContext.noSSR && !isRenderingIsland
-  const payloadURL = _PAYLOAD_EXTRACTION ? joinURL(ssrContext.runtimeConfig.app.baseURL, url, process.env.NUXT_JSON_PAYLOADS ? '_payload.json' : '_payload.js') + '?' + ssrContext.runtimeConfig.app.buildId : undefined
+  const payloadURL = _PAYLOAD_EXTRACTION ? joinURL(ssrContext.runtimeConfig.app.cdnURL || ssrContext.runtimeConfig.app.baseURL, url, process.env.NUXT_JSON_PAYLOADS ? '_payload.json' : '_payload.js') + '?' + ssrContext.runtimeConfig.app.buildId : undefined
   if (import.meta.prerender) {
     ssrContext.payload.prerenderedAt = Date.now()
   }