diff --git a/src/rollup/plugins/externals.ts b/src/rollup/plugins/externals.ts
index 1272346c7e..e8e42625b4 100644
--- a/src/rollup/plugins/externals.ts
+++ b/src/rollup/plugins/externals.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { nodeFileTrace, NodeFileTraceOptions } from '@vercel/nft'
 import type { Plugin } from 'rollup'
 import { resolvePath, isValidNodeImport, normalizeid } from 'mlly'
 import semver from 'semver'
+import { isDirectory } from '../../utils'
 
 export interface NodeExternalsOptions {
   inline?: string[]
@@ -64,7 +65,7 @@ export function externals (opts: NodeExternalsOptions): Plugin {
       const resolved = await this.resolve(originalId, importer, { ...options, skipSelf: true }) || { id }
 
       // Try resolving with mlly as fallback
-      if (!existsSync(resolved.id)) {
+      if (!isAbsolute(resolved.id) || !existsSync(resolved.id) || await isDirectory(resolved.id)) {
         resolved.id = await _resolve(resolved.id).catch(() => resolved.id)
       }
 
@@ -77,7 +78,7 @@ export function externals (opts: NodeExternalsOptions): Plugin {
       if (opts.trace === false) {
         return {
           ...resolved,
-          id: normalizeid(resolved.id),
+          id: isAbsolute(resolved.id) ? normalizeid(resolved.id) : resolved.id,
           external: true
         }
       }