diff --git a/.changeset/short-guests-sort.md b/.changeset/short-guests-sort.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e5658bfbda44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/short-guests-sort.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@sveltejs/kit': patch
+---
+
+use namespace import for vite to support upcoming vite 3.0 esm
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/core/build/build_service_worker.js b/packages/kit/src/core/build/build_service_worker.js
index dbbcd93666e4..e193242d665d 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/core/build/build_service_worker.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/core/build/build_service_worker.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import fs from 'fs';
-import vite from 'vite';
+import * as vite from 'vite';
 import { s } from '../../utils/misc.js';
 import { deep_merge } from '../../utils/object.js';
 import { normalize_path } from '../../utils/url.js';
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/core/build/utils.js b/packages/kit/src/core/build/utils.js
index bf7e553499ac..23904c58b245 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/core/build/utils.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/core/build/utils.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import vite from 'vite';
+import * as vite from 'vite';
 
 /**
  * @typedef {import('rollup').RollupOutput} RollupOutput
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/core/dev/index.js b/packages/kit/src/core/dev/index.js
index 350bff1c74f9..4931a485ecc8 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/core/dev/index.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/core/dev/index.js
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import path from 'path';
 import { svelte } from '@sveltejs/vite-plugin-svelte';
-import vite from 'vite';
+import * as vite from 'vite';
 import { deep_merge } from '../../utils/object.js';
 import { print_config_conflicts } from '../config/index.js';
 import { get_aliases, get_runtime_path } from '../utils.js';