diff --git a/.changeset/tired-ways-wonder.md b/.changeset/tired-ways-wonder.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1d418543
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/tired-ways-wonder.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"emdash": patch
+---
+
+Fixes i18n config returning null in Vite dev SSR by reading from virtual module instead of dynamic import.
diff --git a/packages/core/src/emdash-runtime.ts b/packages/core/src/emdash-runtime.ts
index 810b0bba..dde8602b 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/emdash-runtime.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/emdash-runtime.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 
 import type { Element } from "@emdash-cms/blocks";
 import { Kysely, sql, type Dialect } from "kysely";
+import virtualConfig from "virtual:emdash/config";
 
 import { validateRev } from "./api/rev.js";
 import type {
@@ -1299,11 +1300,10 @@ export class EmDashRuntime {
 		const authMode = getAuthMode(this.config);
 		const authModeValue = authMode.type === "external" ? authMode.providerType : "passkey";
 
-		// Include i18n config if enabled
-		const { getI18nConfig, isI18nEnabled } = await import("./i18n/config.js");
-		const i18nConfig = getI18nConfig();
+		// Include i18n config if enabled (read from virtual module to avoid SSR module singleton mismatch)
+		const i18nConfig = virtualConfig?.i18n;
 		const i18n =
-			isI18nEnabled() && i18nConfig
+			i18nConfig && i18nConfig.locales && i18nConfig.locales.length > 1
 				? { defaultLocale: i18nConfig.defaultLocale, locales: i18nConfig.locales }
 				: undefined;