diff --git a/packages/kit/src/config/env.ts b/packages/kit/src/config/env.ts
index f2ad896f89..5d8dd87b9b 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/config/env.ts
+++ b/packages/kit/src/config/env.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { existsSync, promises as fsp } from 'fs'
+import { promises as fsp, existsSync } from 'fs'
 import { resolve } from 'pathe'
 import dotenv from 'dotenv'
 import { LoadNuxtConfigOptions } from './load'
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/config/load.ts b/packages/kit/src/config/load.ts
index 9d6f93175d..1e5d5b4ecb 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/config/load.ts
+++ b/packages/kit/src/config/load.ts
@@ -22,9 +22,11 @@ export interface LoadNuxtConfigOptions {
   }
 }
 
-export function loadNuxtConfig (opts: LoadNuxtConfigOptions): NuxtOptions {
+export async function loadNuxtConfig (opts: LoadNuxtConfigOptions): Promise<NuxtOptions> {
   const rootDir = resolve(process.cwd(), opts.rootDir || '.')
 
+  await loadEnv(rootDir, opts.envConfig)
+
   const nuxtConfigFile = tryResolveModule(resolve(rootDir, opts.configFile || 'nuxt.config'))
 
   let nuxtConfig: any = {}
@@ -50,8 +52,6 @@ export function loadNuxtConfig (opts: LoadNuxtConfigOptions): NuxtOptions {
     nuxtConfig.rootDir = rootDir
   }
 
-  loadEnv(rootDir, opts.envConfig)
-
   // Resolve and apply defaults
   return applyDefaults(nuxtConfigSchema, nuxtConfig) as NuxtOptions
 }
diff --git a/packages/nuxt3/src/core/nuxt.ts b/packages/nuxt3/src/core/nuxt.ts
index 63d9aebaca..024b155800 100644
--- a/packages/nuxt3/src/core/nuxt.ts
+++ b/packages/nuxt3/src/core/nuxt.ts
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ async function initNuxt (nuxt: Nuxt) {
 }
 
 export async function loadNuxt (opts: LoadNuxtOptions): Promise<Nuxt> {
-  const options = loadNuxtConfig(opts)
+  const options = await loadNuxtConfig(opts)
 
   // Temp
   options.appDir = options.alias['#app'] = resolve(distDir, 'app')