diff --git a/packages/vite-node/src/client.ts b/packages/vite-node/src/client.ts
index b465eb67a8ae..3d357cfe7b3f 100644
--- a/packages/vite-node/src/client.ts
+++ b/packages/vite-node/src/client.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import { extractSourceMap } from './source-map'
 import {
   cleanUrl,
   createImportMetaEnvProxy,
+  isBareImport,
   isInternalRequest,
   isNodeBuiltin,
   isPrimitive,
@@ -325,6 +326,28 @@ export class ViteNodeRunner {
     return await this.cachedRequest(id, fsPath, callstack)
   }
 
+  private async _fetchModule(id: string, importer?: string) {
+    try {
+      return await this.options.fetchModule(id)
+    }
+    catch (cause: any) {
+      // rethrow vite error if it cannot load the module because it's not resolved
+      if (
+        (typeof cause === 'object' && cause.code === 'ERR_LOAD_URL')
+        || (typeof cause?.message === 'string' && cause.message.includes('Failed to load url'))
+      ) {
+        const error = new Error(
+          `Cannot find ${isBareImport(id) ? 'package' : 'module'} '${id}'${importer ? ` imported from '${importer}'` : ''}`,
+          { cause },
+        ) as Error & { code: string }
+        error.code = 'ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND'
+        throw error
+      }
+
+      throw cause
+    }
+  }
+
   /** @internal */
   async directRequest(id: string, fsPath: string, _callstack: string[]) {
     const moduleId = normalizeModuleId(fsPath)
@@ -345,7 +368,10 @@ export class ViteNodeRunner {
     if (id in requestStubs) {
       return requestStubs[id]
     }
-    let { code: transformed, externalize } = await this.options.fetchModule(id)
+    let { code: transformed, externalize } = await this._fetchModule(
+      id,
+      callstack[callstack.length - 2],
+    )
 
     if (externalize) {
       debugNative(externalize)
diff --git a/packages/vite-node/src/utils.ts b/packages/vite-node/src/utils.ts
index a220690ee79d..7d3b2e8d4436 100644
--- a/packages/vite-node/src/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/vite-node/src/utils.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,12 @@ export function slash(str: string): string {
   return str.replace(/\\/g, '/')
 }
 
+const bareImportRE = /^(?![a-z]:)[\w@](?!.*:\/\/)/i
+
+export function isBareImport(id: string): boolean {
+  return bareImportRE.test(id)
+}
+
 export const VALID_ID_PREFIX = '/@id/'
 
 export function normalizeRequestId(id: string, base?: string): string {
diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/runtime/external-executor.ts b/packages/vitest/src/runtime/external-executor.ts
index c2d0875baadc..680294603a23 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/runtime/external-executor.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/runtime/external-executor.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import fs from 'node:fs'
 import { dirname } from 'node:path'
 import { fileURLToPath, pathToFileURL } from 'node:url'
 import { extname, join, normalize } from 'pathe'
-import { getCachedData, isNodeBuiltin, setCacheData } from 'vite-node/utils'
+import { getCachedData, isBareImport, isNodeBuiltin, setCacheData } from 'vite-node/utils'
 import { CommonjsExecutor } from './vm/commonjs-executor'
 import { EsmExecutor } from './vm/esm-executor'
 import { ViteExecutor } from './vm/vite-executor'
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ export class ExternalModulesExecutor {
       (type === 'module' || type === 'commonjs' || type === 'wasm')
       && !existsSync(path)
     ) {
-      const error = new Error(`Cannot find module '${path}'`);
+      const error = new Error(`Cannot find ${isBareImport(path) ? 'package' : 'module'} '${path}'`);
       (error as any).code = 'ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND'
       throw error
     }
diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/runtime/vm/vite-executor.ts b/packages/vitest/src/runtime/vm/vite-executor.ts
index c27f11af0d4f..a99491a384fa 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/runtime/vm/vite-executor.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/runtime/vm/vite-executor.ts
@@ -63,13 +63,30 @@ export class ViteExecutor {
       return cached
     }
     return this.esm.createEsModule(fileUrl, async () => {
-      const result = await this.options.transform(fileUrl, 'web')
-      if (!result.code) {
-        throw new Error(
-          `[vitest] Failed to transform ${fileUrl}. Does the file exist?`,
-        )
+      try {
+        const result = await this.options.transform(fileUrl, 'web')
+        if (result.code) {
+          return result.code
+        }
       }
-      return result.code
+      catch (cause: any) {
+        // rethrow vite error if it cannot load the module because it's not resolved
+        if (
+          (typeof cause === 'object' && cause.code === 'ERR_LOAD_URL')
+          || (typeof cause?.message === 'string' && cause.message.includes('Failed to load url'))
+        ) {
+          const error = new Error(
+            `Cannot find module '${fileUrl}'`,
+            { cause },
+          ) as Error & { code: string }
+          error.code = 'ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND'
+          throw error
+        }
+      }
+
+      throw new Error(
+        `[vitest] Failed to transform ${fileUrl}. Does the file exist?`,
+      )
     })
   }
 
diff --git a/test/cli/fixtures/vm-threads/not-found.test.ts b/test/cli/fixtures/vm-threads/not-found.test.ts
index 67e537ae05c2..a0590a193dd5 100644
--- a/test/cli/fixtures/vm-threads/not-found.test.ts
+++ b/test/cli/fixtures/vm-threads/not-found.test.ts
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ it('package', async () => {
 it('builtin', async () => {
   await expect(() => notFound.importBuiltin()).rejects.toMatchObject({
     code: 'ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND',
-    message: 'Cannot find module \'node:non-existing-builtin\'',
+    message: 'Cannot find package \'node:non-existing-builtin\'',
   })
 })
 
@@ -31,6 +31,6 @@ it('builtin', async () => {
 it('namespace', async () => {
   await expect(() => notFound.importNamespace()).rejects.toMatchObject({
     code: 'ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND',
-    message: 'Cannot find module \'non-existing-namespace:xyz\'',
+    message: 'Cannot find package \'non-existing-namespace:xyz\'',
   })
 })
diff --git a/test/core/test/dynamic-import.test.ts b/test/core/test/dynamic-import.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..ed8ecb5ade4a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/core/test/dynamic-import.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+import { expect, test } from 'vitest'
+
+test('dynamic import', async () => {
+  try {
+    await import('non-existing-module' as any)
+    expect.unreachable()
+  }
+  catch (err: any) {
+    expect(err.message).toBe(
+      `Cannot find package 'non-existing-module' imported from '${import.meta.filename}'`,
+    )
+    expect(err.code).toBe('ERR_MODULE_NOT_FOUND')
+  }
+})
diff --git a/test/core/test/imports.test.ts b/test/core/test/imports.test.ts
index 9d1d18fe1633..e0d599180c2e 100644
--- a/test/core/test/imports.test.ts
+++ b/test/core/test/imports.test.ts
@@ -82,9 +82,9 @@ test('dynamic import has null prototype', async () => {
 test('dynamic import throws an error', async () => {
   const path = './some-unknown-path'
   const imported = import(path)
-  await expect(imported).rejects.toThrowError(/Failed to load url \.\/some-unknown-path/)
+  await expect(imported).rejects.toThrowError(/Cannot find module '\.\/some-unknown-path' imported/)
   // @ts-expect-error path does not exist
-  await expect(() => import('./some-unknown-path')).rejects.toThrowError(/Failed to load/)
+  await expect(() => import('./some-unknown-path')).rejects.toThrowError(/Cannot find module/)
 })
 
 test('can import @vite/client', async () => {
diff --git a/test/core/test/web-worker-jsdom.test.ts b/test/core/test/web-worker-jsdom.test.ts
index 35165476974c..4a6a7795f36b 100644
--- a/test/core/test/web-worker-jsdom.test.ts
+++ b/test/core/test/web-worker-jsdom.test.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ it('worker with invalid url throws an error', async () => {
   if (!import.meta.env.VITEST_VM_POOL) {
     expect(event.error).toBeInstanceOf(Error)
   }
-  expect(event.error.message).toContain('Failed to load')
+  expect(event.error.message).toContain('Cannot find module')
 })
 
 it('throws an error on invalid path', async () => {
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ it('throws an error on invalid path', async () => {
   if (!import.meta.env.VITEST_VM_POOL) {
     expect(event.error).toBeInstanceOf(Error)
   }
-  expect(event.error.message).toContain('Failed to load')
+  expect(event.error.message).toContain('Cannot find module')
 })
 
 it('returns globals on self correctly', async () => {