diff --git a/packages/react/test/apps/react18/vite.config.ts b/packages/react/test/apps/react18/vite.config.ts
index 39a719b2db..2fda2d9f29 100644
--- a/packages/react/test/apps/react18/vite.config.ts
+++ b/packages/react/test/apps/react18/vite.config.ts
@@ -16,4 +16,12 @@ export default defineConfig({
   server: {
     port: 3000
   },
+  optimizeDeps: {
+    exclude: ['@ionic/react', '@ionic/react-router'],
+    /**
+     * ESM dependencies that have a CJS dependency need to 
+     * include that dependency for optimization.
+     */
+    include: ['@ionic/react > react-dom']
+  }
 })