diff --git a/packages/kit/src/module/install.ts b/packages/kit/src/module/install.ts
index db8749fe2a..3adaa6916a 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/module/install.ts
+++ b/packages/kit/src/module/install.ts
@@ -79,6 +79,8 @@ export const normalizeModuleTranspilePath = (p: string) => {
   return getDirectory(p).split('node_modules/').pop() as string
 }
 
+const MissingModuleMatcher = /Cannot find module\s+['"]?([^'")\s]+)['"]?/i
+
 export async function loadNuxtModuleInstance (nuxtModule: string | NuxtModule, nuxt: Nuxt = useNuxt()) {
   let buildTimeModuleMeta: ModuleMeta = {}
   let resolvedModulePath: string | undefined
@@ -118,9 +120,17 @@ export async function loadNuxtModuleInstance (nuxtModule: string | NuxtModule, n
         break
       } catch (error: unknown) {
         const code = (error as Error & { code?: string }).code
-        if (code === 'MODULE_NOT_FOUND' || code === 'ERR_PACKAGE_PATH_NOT_EXPORTED' || code === 'ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND' || code === 'ERR_UNSUPPORTED_DIR_IMPORT' || code === 'ENOTDIR') {
+        if (code === 'ERR_PACKAGE_PATH_NOT_EXPORTED' || code === 'ERR_UNSUPPORTED_DIR_IMPORT' || code === 'ENOTDIR') {
           continue
         }
+        if (code === 'MODULE_NOT_FOUND' || code === 'ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND') {
+          const module = MissingModuleMatcher.exec((error as Error).message)?.[1]
+          // verify that it's missing the nuxt module otherwise it may be a sub dependency of the module itself
+          // i.e module is importing a module that is missing
+          if (!module || module.includes(nuxtModule as string)) {
+            continue
+          }
+        }
         logger.error(`Error while importing module \`${nuxtModule}\`: ${error}`)
         throw error
       }