diff --git a/packages/vite/src/client/client.ts b/packages/vite/src/client/client.ts
index 5aec1eae9c5bc0..8f39164e05a774 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/client/client.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/client/client.ts
@@ -101,7 +101,18 @@ async function handleMessage(payload: HMRPayload) {
             const newPath = `${base}${searchUrl.slice(1)}${
               searchUrl.includes('?') ? '&' : '?'
             }t=${timestamp}`
-            el.href = new URL(newPath, el.href).href
+
+            // rather than swapping the href on the existing tag, we will
+            // create a new link tag. Once the new stylesheet has loaded we
+            // will remove the existing link tag. This removes a Flash Of
+            // Unstyled Content that can occur when swapping out the tag href
+            // directly, as the new stylesheet has not yet been loaded.
+            const newLinkTag = el.cloneNode() as HTMLLinkElement
+            newLinkTag.href = new URL(newPath, el.href).href
+            const removeOldEl = () => el.remove()
+            newLinkTag.addEventListener('load', removeOldEl)
+            newLinkTag.addEventListener('error', removeOldEl)
+            el.after(newLinkTag)
           }
           console.log(`[vite] css hot updated: ${searchUrl}`)
         }
diff --git a/playground/hmr/__tests__/hmr.spec.ts b/playground/hmr/__tests__/hmr.spec.ts
index d06fee31f110ea..2ccdf96d84b970 100644
--- a/playground/hmr/__tests__/hmr.spec.ts
+++ b/playground/hmr/__tests__/hmr.spec.ts
@@ -169,6 +169,20 @@ if (!isBuild) {
     expect(textpost).not.toMatch('direct')
   })
 
+  test('it swaps out link tags', async () => {
+    await page.goto(viteTestUrl)
+
+    editFile('global.css', (code) => code.replace('white', 'tomato'))
+
+    let el = await page.$('.link-tag-added')
+    await untilUpdated(() => el.textContent(), 'yes')
+
+    el = await page.$('.link-tag-removed')
+    await untilUpdated(() => el.textContent(), 'yes')
+
+    expect((await page.$$('link')).length).toBe(1)
+  })
+
   test('not loaded dynamic import', async () => {
     await page.goto(viteTestUrl + '/counter/index.html')
 
diff --git a/playground/hmr/hmr.ts b/playground/hmr/hmr.ts
index 113b87bc5865d4..f2d21b9bc78884 100644
--- a/playground/hmr/hmr.ts
+++ b/playground/hmr/hmr.ts
@@ -41,12 +41,42 @@ if (import.meta.hot) {
         update.type === 'css-update' && update.path.match('global.css')
     )
     if (cssUpdate) {
-      const el = document.querySelector('#global-css') as HTMLLinkElement
-      text('.css-prev', el.href)
-      // We don't have a vite:afterUpdate event, but updates are currently sync
-      setTimeout(() => {
-        text('.css-post', el.href)
-      }, 0)
+      text(
+        '.css-prev',
+        (document.querySelector('.global-css') as HTMLLinkElement).href
+      )
+
+      // We don't have a vite:afterUpdate event.
+      // We need to wait until the tag has been swapped out, which
+      // includes the time taken to download and parse the new stylesheet.
+      const observer = new MutationObserver((mutations) => {
+        mutations.forEach((mutation) => {
+          mutation.addedNodes.forEach((node) => {
+            if (
+              node.nodeType === Node.ELEMENT_NODE &&
+              (node as Element).tagName === 'LINK'
+            ) {
+              text('.link-tag-added', 'yes')
+            }
+          })
+          mutation.removedNodes.forEach((node) => {
+            if (
+              node.nodeType === Node.ELEMENT_NODE &&
+              (node as Element).tagName === 'LINK'
+            ) {
+              text('.link-tag-removed', 'yes')
+              text(
+                '.css-post',
+                (document.querySelector('.global-css') as HTMLLinkElement).href
+              )
+            }
+          })
+        })
+      })
+
+      observer.observe(document.querySelector('#style-tags-wrapper'), {
+        childList: true
+      })
     }
   })
 
diff --git a/playground/hmr/index.html b/playground/hmr/index.html
index 65a2ed381b027a..7857ef818a911c 100644
--- a/playground/hmr/index.html
+++ b/playground/hmr/index.html
@@ -1,4 +1,10 @@
-<link id="global-css" rel="stylesheet" href="./global.css?param=required" />
+<div id="style-tags-wrapper">
+  <link
+    class="global-css"
+    rel="stylesheet"
+    href="./global.css?param=required"
+  />
+</div>
 <script type="module" src="./hmr.ts"></script>
 <style>
   .import-image {
@@ -16,4 +22,6 @@
 <div class="custom-communication"></div>
 <div class="css-prev"></div>
 <div class="css-post"></div>
+<div class="link-tag-added">no</div>
+<div class="link-tag-removed">no</div>
 <div class="import-image"></div>