diff --git a/src/client/theme-default/without-fonts.ts b/src/client/theme-default/without-fonts.ts
index f53fb679..35532c38 100644
--- a/src/client/theme-default/without-fonts.ts
+++ b/src/client/theme-default/without-fonts.ts
@@ -11,9 +11,6 @@ import type { Theme } from 'vitepress'
 import VPBadge from './components/VPBadge.vue'
 import Layout from './Layout.vue'
 
-// Note: if we add more optional components here, i.e. components that are not
-// used in the theme by default unless the user imports them, make sure to update
-// the `lazyDefaultThemeComponentsRE` regex in src/node/build/bundle.ts.
 export { default as VPImage } from './components/VPImage.vue'
 export { default as VPButton } from './components/VPButton.vue'
 export { default as VPHomeHero } from './components/VPHomeHero.vue'
diff --git a/src/node/build/bundle.ts b/src/node/build/bundle.ts
index 159bb43c..76e6dfef 100644
--- a/src/node/build/bundle.ts
+++ b/src/node/build/bundle.ts
@@ -15,14 +15,24 @@ import { sanitizeFileName, slash } from '../shared'
 import { task } from '../utils/task'
 import { buildMPAClient } from './buildMPAClient'
 
-// A list of default theme components that should only be loaded on demand.
-const lazyDefaultThemeComponentsRE =
-  /VP(HomeSponsors|DocAsideSponsors|TeamPage|TeamMembers|LocalSearchBox|AlgoliaSearchBox|CarbonAds|DocAsideCarbonAds|Sponsors)/
+const CSS_LANGS_RE =
+  /\.(css|less|sass|scss|styl|stylus|pcss|postcss|sss)(?:$|\?)/
 
 const clientDir = normalizePath(
   path.resolve(path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url)), '../client')
 )
 
+// to avoid circular dependency issues
+// these deps are also being used in the client code (outside of the theme)
+const excludedModules = [
+  '/@siteData',
+  'node_modules/@vueuse/core/',
+  'node_modules/@vueuse/shared/',
+  'node_modules/vue/',
+  'node_modules/vue-demi/',
+  clientDir
+]
+
 // bundles the VitePress app for both client AND server.
 export async function bundle(
   config: SiteConfig,
@@ -47,6 +57,12 @@ export async function bundle(
     input[slash(alias).replace(/\//g, '_')] = path.resolve(config.srcDir, file)
   })
 
+  const themeEntryRE = new RegExp(
+    `^${escapeRegExp(
+      path.resolve(config.themeDir, 'index.js').replace(/\\/g, '/')
+    ).slice(0, -2)}m?(j|t)s`
+  )
+
   // resolve options to pass to vite
   const { rollupOptions } = options
 
@@ -109,12 +125,6 @@ export async function bundle(
                     : `${config.assetsDir}/chunks/[name].[hash].js`
                 },
                 manualChunks(id, ctx) {
-                  if (lazyDefaultThemeComponentsRE.test(id)) {
-                    return
-                  }
-                  if (id.startsWith(`${clientDir}/theme-default`)) {
-                    return 'theme'
-                  }
                   // move known framework code into a stable chunk so that
                   // custom theme changes do not invalidate hash for all pages
                   if (id.startsWith('\0vite')) {
@@ -135,6 +145,19 @@ export async function bundle(
                   ) {
                     return 'framework'
                   }
+
+                  if (
+                    (id.startsWith(`${clientDir}/theme-default`) ||
+                      !excludedModules.some((i) => id.includes(i))) &&
+                    staticImportedByEntry(
+                      id,
+                      ctx.getModuleInfo,
+                      cacheTheme,
+                      themeEntryRE
+                    )
+                  ) {
+                    return 'theme'
+                  }
                 }
               })
         }
@@ -182,6 +205,7 @@ export async function bundle(
 }
 
 const cache = new Map<string, boolean>()
+const cacheTheme = new Map<string, boolean>()
 
 /**
  * Check if a module is statically imported by at least one entry.
@@ -189,7 +213,7 @@ const cache = new Map<string, boolean>()
 function isEagerChunk(id: string, getModuleInfo: Rollup.GetModuleInfo) {
   if (
     id.includes('node_modules') &&
-    !/\.css($|\\?)/.test(id) &&
+    !CSS_LANGS_RE.test(id) &&
     staticImportedByEntry(id, getModuleInfo, cache)
   ) {
     return true
@@ -200,6 +224,7 @@ function staticImportedByEntry(
   id: string,
   getModuleInfo: Rollup.GetModuleInfo,
   cache: Map<string, boolean>,
+  entryRE: RegExp | null = null,
   importStack: string[] = []
 ): boolean {
   if (cache.has(id)) {
@@ -216,7 +241,7 @@ function staticImportedByEntry(
     return false
   }
 
-  if (mod.isEntry) {
+  if (entryRE ? entryRE.test(id) : mod.isEntry) {
     cache.set(id, true)
     return true
   }
@@ -225,9 +250,14 @@ function staticImportedByEntry(
       importer,
       getModuleInfo,
       cache,
+      entryRE,
       importStack.concat(id)
     )
   )
   cache.set(id, someImporterIs)
   return someImporterIs
 }
+
+function escapeRegExp(str: string) {
+  return str.replace(/[|\\{}()[\]^$+*?.]/g, '\\$&').replace(/-/g, '\\x2d')
+}