diff --git a/packages/addons/package.json b/packages/addons/package.json
index bfe2c498..d428b956 100644
--- a/packages/addons/package.json
+++ b/packages/addons/package.json
@@ -53,6 +53,9 @@
     "stub": "unbuild . --stub",
     "export:sizes": "npx export-size . -r"
   },
+  "peerDependencies": {
+    "unhead": "workspace:*"
+  },
   "dependencies": {
     "@rollup/pluginutils": "^5.1.4",
     "@unhead/schema": "workspace:*",
@@ -64,9 +67,6 @@
     "unplugin": "^2.1.2",
     "unplugin-ast": "^0.13.1"
   },
-  "peerDependencies": {
-    "unhead": "workspace:*"
-  },
   "devDependencies": {
     "@babel/types": "^7.26.3"
   }
diff --git a/packages/shared/src/constants.ts b/packages/shared/src/constants.ts
index 7657c8f9..13f7f91e 100644
--- a/packages/shared/src/constants.ts
+++ b/packages/shared/src/constants.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 export const SelfClosingTags = new Set(['meta', 'link', 'base'])
+export const DupeableTags = new Set(['link', 'style', 'script', 'noscript'])
 export const TagsWithInnerContent = new Set(['title', 'titleTemplate', 'script', 'style', 'noscript'])
 export const HasElementTags = new Set([
   'base',
@@ -24,7 +25,7 @@ export const ValidHeadTags = new Set([
 
 export const UniqueTags = new Set(['base', 'title', 'titleTemplate', 'bodyAttrs', 'htmlAttrs', 'templateParams'])
 
-export const TagConfigKeys = new Set(['tagPosition', 'tagPriority', 'tagDuplicateStrategy', 'innerHTML', 'textContent', 'processTemplateParams'])
+export const TagConfigKeys = new Set(['key', 'tagPosition', 'tagPriority', 'tagDuplicateStrategy', 'innerHTML', 'textContent', 'processTemplateParams'])
 
 export const IsBrowser = typeof window !== 'undefined'
 
diff --git a/packages/shared/src/normalise.ts b/packages/shared/src/normalise.ts
index 174962d6..131ef2a2 100644
--- a/packages/shared/src/normalise.ts
+++ b/packages/shared/src/normalise.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 import type { Head, HeadEntry, HeadTag } from '@unhead/schema'
-import { TagConfigKeys, TagsWithInnerContent, ValidHeadTags } from './constants'
+import { DupeableTags, TagConfigKeys, TagsWithInnerContent, ValidHeadTags } from './constants'
+import { hashCode } from './hashCode'
+import { tagDedupeKey } from './tagDedupeKey'
 
 export function normaliseTag<T extends HeadTag>(tagName: T['tag'], input: HeadTag['props'] | string, e: HeadEntry<T>, normalizedProps?: HeadTag['props']): T | T[] {
   const props = normalizedProps || normaliseProps<T>(
@@ -27,6 +29,19 @@ export function normaliseTag<T extends HeadTag>(tagName: T['tag'], input: HeadTa
       delete tag.props[k]
     }
   }
+  // only if the user has provided a key
+  // only tags which can't dedupe themselves, ssr only
+  if (tag.key && DupeableTags.has(tag.tag)) {
+    // add a HTML key so the client-side can hydrate without causing duplicates
+    tag.props['data-hid'] = tag._h = hashCode(tag.key!)
+  }
+  const generatedKey = tagDedupeKey(tag)
+  if (generatedKey && !generatedKey.startsWith('meta:og:') && !generatedKey.startsWith('meta:twitter:')) {
+    delete tag.key
+  }
+  const dedupe = generatedKey || (tag.key ? `${tag.tag}:${tag.key}` : false)
+  if (dedupe)
+    tag._d = dedupe
   // shorthand for objects
   if (tag.tag === 'script') {
     if (typeof tag.innerHTML === 'object') {
diff --git a/packages/unhead/src/client/createHead.ts b/packages/unhead/src/client/createHead.ts
index b0666e6d..5f0a863a 100644
--- a/packages/unhead/src/client/createHead.ts
+++ b/packages/unhead/src/client/createHead.ts
@@ -2,17 +2,19 @@ import type { CreateHeadOptions, Head } from '@unhead/schema'
 import { IsBrowser } from '@unhead/shared'
 import { unheadCtx } from '../context'
 import { createHeadCore } from '../createHead'
-import { DomPlugin } from './domPlugin'
+import { DomPlugin } from './plugins/domPlugin'
+import { ClientEventHandlerPlugin } from './plugins/eventHandlers'
 
 export function createHead<T extends Record<string, any> = Head>(options: CreateHeadOptions = {}) {
   const head = createHeadCore<T>({
     document: (IsBrowser ? document : undefined),
     ...options,
+    plugins: [
+      ...(options.plugins || []),
+      DomPlugin(),
+      ClientEventHandlerPlugin,
+    ],
   })
-  head.use(DomPlugin())
-  // should only be one instance client-side
-  if (!head.ssr && IsBrowser) {
-    unheadCtx.set(head, true)
-  }
+  unheadCtx.set(head, true)
   return head
 }
diff --git a/packages/unhead/src/client/index.ts b/packages/unhead/src/client/index.ts
index 05497f7a..f0d3c880 100644
--- a/packages/unhead/src/client/index.ts
+++ b/packages/unhead/src/client/index.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 export * from './createHead'
 export * from './debounced'
-export * from './domPlugin'
+export * from './plugins/domPlugin'
 export * from './renderDOMHead'
diff --git a/packages/unhead/src/client/domPlugin.ts b/packages/unhead/src/client/plugins/domPlugin.ts
similarity index 86%
rename from packages/unhead/src/client/domPlugin.ts
rename to packages/unhead/src/client/plugins/domPlugin.ts
index ac6f7a16..7dd0dc2f 100644
--- a/packages/unhead/src/client/domPlugin.ts
+++ b/packages/unhead/src/client/plugins/domPlugin.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
-import type { RenderDomHeadOptions } from './renderDOMHead'
+import type { RenderDomHeadOptions } from '../renderDOMHead'
 import { defineHeadPlugin } from '@unhead/shared'
-import { debouncedRenderDOMHead } from './debounced'
+import { debouncedRenderDOMHead } from '../debounced'
 
 export interface DomPluginOptions extends RenderDomHeadOptions {
   delayFn?: (fn: () => void) => void
diff --git a/packages/unhead/src/plugins/eventHandlers.ts b/packages/unhead/src/client/plugins/eventHandlers.ts
similarity index 72%
rename from packages/unhead/src/plugins/eventHandlers.ts
rename to packages/unhead/src/client/plugins/eventHandlers.ts
index 146ee2bc..b52ebc43 100644
--- a/packages/unhead/src/plugins/eventHandlers.ts
+++ b/packages/unhead/src/client/plugins/eventHandlers.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { defineHeadPlugin, hashCode, NetworkEvents } from '@unhead/shared'
+import { defineHeadPlugin, NetworkEvents } from '@unhead/shared'
 
 const ValidEventTags = new Set(['script', 'link', 'bodyAttrs'])
 
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ const ValidEventTags = new Set(['script', 'link', 'bodyAttrs'])
  *
  * When SSR we need to strip out these values. On CSR we
  */
-export default defineHeadPlugin(head => ({
+export const ClientEventHandlerPlugin = defineHeadPlugin({
   hooks: {
     'tags:resolve': (ctx) => {
       for (const tag of ctx.tags) {
@@ -33,21 +33,10 @@ export default defineHeadPlugin(head => ({
             continue
           }
 
-          // insert a inline script to set the status of onload and onerror
-          if (head.ssr && NetworkEvents.has(key)) {
-            props[key] = `this.dataset.${key}fired = true`
-          }
-          else {
-            delete props[key]
-          }
-
+          delete props[key]
           tag._eventHandlers = tag._eventHandlers || {}
           tag._eventHandlers![key] = value
         }
-
-        if (head.ssr && tag._eventHandlers && (tag.props.src || tag.props.href)) {
-          tag.key = tag.key || hashCode(tag.props.src || tag.props.href)
-        }
       }
     },
     'dom:renderTag': ({ $el, tag }) => {
@@ -75,4 +64,4 @@ export default defineHeadPlugin(head => ({
       }
     },
   },
-}))
+})
diff --git a/packages/unhead/src/createHead.ts b/packages/unhead/src/createHead.ts
index 5b8ad6f0..078c2f85 100644
--- a/packages/unhead/src/createHead.ts
+++ b/packages/unhead/src/createHead.ts
@@ -12,8 +12,6 @@ import type {
 import { normaliseEntryTags } from '@unhead/shared'
 import { createHooks } from 'hookable'
 import DedupePlugin from './plugins/dedupe'
-import EventHandlersPlugin from './plugins/eventHandlers'
-import HashKeyedPlugin from './plugins/hashKeyed'
 import SortPlugin from './plugins/sort'
 import TemplateParamsPlugin from './plugins/templateParams'
 import TitleTemplatePlugin from './plugins/titleTemplate'
@@ -114,8 +112,6 @@ export function createHeadCore<T extends Record<string, any> = Head>(options: Cr
   }
   ;[
     DedupePlugin,
-    EventHandlersPlugin,
-    HashKeyedPlugin,
     SortPlugin,
     TemplateParamsPlugin,
     TitleTemplatePlugin,
diff --git a/packages/unhead/src/legacy.ts b/packages/unhead/src/legacy.ts
index 83cff701..0cb1641c 100644
--- a/packages/unhead/src/legacy.ts
+++ b/packages/unhead/src/legacy.ts
@@ -1,24 +1,39 @@
 import type { CreateHeadOptions, Head } from '@unhead/schema'
 import { IsBrowser } from '@unhead/shared'
-import { DomPlugin } from './client/domPlugin'
+import { DomPlugin } from './client/plugins/domPlugin'
+import { ClientEventHandlerPlugin } from './client/plugins/eventHandlers'
 import { unheadCtx } from './context'
 import { createHeadCore } from './createHead'
 import { DeprecationsPlugin } from './optionalPlugins/deprecations'
 import { PromisesPlugin } from './optionalPlugins/promises'
+import { ServerEventHandlerPlugin } from './server/plugins/eventHandlers'
+import { PayloadPlugin } from './server/plugins/payload'
 
 export function createServerHead<T extends Record<string, any> = Head>(options: CreateHeadOptions = {}) {
-  // @ts-expect-error untyped
-  const head = createHeadCore<T>({ disableCapoSorting: true, ...options, document: false })
-  head.use(DeprecationsPlugin)
-  head.use(PromisesPlugin)
-  return head
+  return createHeadCore<T>({
+    disableCapoSorting: true,
+    ...options,
+    // @ts-expect-error untyped
+    document: false,
+    plugins: [
+      ...(options.plugins || []),
+      DomPlugin(),
+      DeprecationsPlugin,
+      PromisesPlugin,
+      ServerEventHandlerPlugin,
+      PayloadPlugin,
+    ],
+  })
 }
 
 export function createHead<T extends Record<string, any> = Head>(options: CreateHeadOptions = {}) {
-  const head = createHeadCore<T>({ disableCapoSorting: true, ...options })
-  head.use(DomPlugin())
-  head.use(DeprecationsPlugin)
-  head.use(PromisesPlugin)
+  const head = createHeadCore<T>({ disableCapoSorting: true, ...options, plugins: [
+    ...(options.plugins || []),
+    DomPlugin(),
+    DeprecationsPlugin,
+    PromisesPlugin,
+    ClientEventHandlerPlugin,
+  ] })
   // should only be one instance client-side
   if (!head.ssr && IsBrowser) {
     unheadCtx.set(head, true)
diff --git a/packages/unhead/src/plugins/dedupe.ts b/packages/unhead/src/plugins/dedupe.ts
index 71f5df54..431d386c 100644
--- a/packages/unhead/src/plugins/dedupe.ts
+++ b/packages/unhead/src/plugins/dedupe.ts
@@ -1,23 +1,10 @@
 import type { HeadTag } from '@unhead/schema'
-import { defineHeadPlugin, HasElementTags, hashTag, tagDedupeKey, tagWeight } from '@unhead/shared'
+import { defineHeadPlugin, HasElementTags, hashTag, tagWeight } from '@unhead/shared'
 
 const UsesMergeStrategy = new Set(['templateParams', 'htmlAttrs', 'bodyAttrs'])
 
 export default defineHeadPlugin(head => ({
   hooks: {
-    'tag:normalise': ({ tag }) => {
-      if (tag.props.key) {
-        tag.key = tag.props.key
-        delete tag.props.key
-      }
-      const generatedKey = tagDedupeKey(tag)
-      if (generatedKey && !generatedKey.startsWith('meta:og:') && !generatedKey.startsWith('meta:twitter:')) {
-        delete tag.key
-      }
-      const dedupe = generatedKey || (tag.key ? `${tag.tag}:${tag.key}` : false)
-      if (dedupe)
-        tag._d = dedupe
-    },
     'tags:resolve': (ctx) => {
       // 1. Dedupe tags
       const deduping: Record<string, HeadTag> = Object.create(null)
diff --git a/packages/unhead/src/plugins/hashKeyed.ts b/packages/unhead/src/plugins/hashKeyed.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 69dbb3c1..00000000
--- a/packages/unhead/src/plugins/hashKeyed.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
-import { defineHeadPlugin, hashCode } from '@unhead/shared'
-
-const DupeableTags = new Set(['link', 'style', 'script', 'noscript'])
-
-export default defineHeadPlugin({
-  hooks: {
-    'tag:normalise': ({ tag }) => {
-      // only if the user has provided a key
-      // only tags which can't dedupe themselves, ssr only
-      if (tag.key && DupeableTags.has(tag.tag)) {
-        // add a HTML key so the client-side can hydrate without causing duplicates
-        tag.props['data-hid'] = tag._h = hashCode(tag.key!)
-      }
-    },
-  },
-})
diff --git a/packages/unhead/src/plugins/sort.ts b/packages/unhead/src/plugins/sort.ts
index e8601e8c..d441f38a 100644
--- a/packages/unhead/src/plugins/sort.ts
+++ b/packages/unhead/src/plugins/sort.ts
@@ -33,11 +33,8 @@ export default defineHeadPlugin(head => ({
         const bWeight = tagWeight(head, b)
 
         // 2c. sort based on critical tags
-        if (aWeight < bWeight) {
-          return -1
-        }
-        else if (aWeight > bWeight) {
-          return 1
+        if (aWeight !== bWeight) {
+          return aWeight - bWeight
         }
 
         // 2b. sort tags in their natural order
diff --git a/packages/unhead/src/server/createHead.ts b/packages/unhead/src/server/createHead.ts
index f58709d1..6735c6ff 100644
--- a/packages/unhead/src/server/createHead.ts
+++ b/packages/unhead/src/server/createHead.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,17 @@
 import type { CreateHeadOptions, Head } from '@unhead/schema'
 import { createHeadCore } from '../createHead'
-import PayloadPlugin from './plugins/payload'
+import { ServerEventHandlerPlugin } from './plugins/eventHandlers'
+import { PayloadPlugin } from './plugins/payload'
 
 export function createHead<T extends Record<string, any> = Head>(options: CreateHeadOptions = {}) {
-  // @ts-expect-error untyped
-  const head = createHeadCore<T>({ ...options, document: false })
-  head.use(PayloadPlugin)
-  return head
+  return createHeadCore<T>({
+    ...options,
+    // @ts-expect-error untyped
+    document: false,
+    plugins: [
+      ...(options.plugins || []),
+      PayloadPlugin,
+      ServerEventHandlerPlugin,
+    ],
+  })
 }
diff --git a/packages/unhead/src/server/plugins/eventHandlers.ts b/packages/unhead/src/server/plugins/eventHandlers.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..44de637c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/unhead/src/server/plugins/eventHandlers.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+import { defineHeadPlugin, hashCode, NetworkEvents } from '@unhead/shared'
+
+const ValidEventTags = new Set(['script', 'link', 'bodyAttrs'])
+
+/**
+ * Supports DOM event handlers (i.e `onload`) as functions.
+ *
+ * When SSR we need to strip out these values. On CSR we
+ */
+export const ServerEventHandlerPlugin = defineHeadPlugin({
+  hooks: {
+    'tags:resolve': (ctx) => {
+      for (const tag of ctx.tags) {
+        if (!ValidEventTags.has(tag.tag)) {
+          continue
+        }
+
+        const props = tag.props
+
+        let hasEventHandlers = false
+        for (const key in props) {
+          // on
+          if (key[0] !== 'o' || key[1] !== 'n') {
+            continue
+          }
+
+          if (!Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty.call(props, key)) {
+            continue
+          }
+
+          const value = props[key]
+
+          if (typeof value !== 'function') {
+            continue
+          }
+
+          // insert a inline script to set the status of onload and onerror
+          if (NetworkEvents.has(key)) {
+            props[key] = `this.dataset.${key}fired = true`
+            hasEventHandlers = true
+          }
+        }
+
+        if (hasEventHandlers && (tag.props.src || tag.props.href)) {
+          tag.key = tag.key || hashCode(tag.props.src || tag.props.href)
+        }
+      }
+    },
+  },
+})
diff --git a/packages/unhead/src/server/plugins/payload.ts b/packages/unhead/src/server/plugins/payload.ts
index ecc28609..b3475b27 100644
--- a/packages/unhead/src/server/plugins/payload.ts
+++ b/packages/unhead/src/server/plugins/payload.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import { defineHeadPlugin } from '@unhead/shared'
 
-export default defineHeadPlugin({
-  mode: 'server',
+export const PayloadPlugin = defineHeadPlugin({
   hooks: {
     'tags:beforeResolve': (ctx) => {
       const payload: { titleTemplate?: string | ((s: string) => string), templateParams?: Record<string, string>, title?: string } = {}
diff --git a/test/unhead/ssr/eventHandlers.test.ts b/test/unhead/ssr/eventHandlers.test.ts
index b5528afc..2191b675 100644
--- a/test/unhead/ssr/eventHandlers.test.ts
+++ b/test/unhead/ssr/eventHandlers.test.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 import { renderSSRHead } from '@unhead/ssr'
 import { useHead } from 'unhead'
 import { describe, it } from 'vitest'
-import { createHeadWithContext } from '../../util'
+import { createServerHeadWithContext } from '../../util'
 
 describe('ssr event handlers', () => {
   it('basic', async () => {
-    const head = createHeadWithContext()
+    const head = createServerHeadWithContext()
 
     useHead({
       script: [
diff --git a/test/unhead/ssr/useScript.test.ts b/test/unhead/ssr/useScript.test.ts
index b4e4e73e..643234b7 100644
--- a/test/unhead/ssr/useScript.test.ts
+++ b/test/unhead/ssr/useScript.test.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { renderSSRHead } from '@unhead/ssr'
 import { useScript } from 'unhead'
 import { describe, it } from 'vitest'
-import { createHeadWithContext } from '../../util'
+import { createHeadWithContext, createServerHeadWithContext } from '../../util'
 
 describe('ssr useScript', () => {
   it('default', async () => {
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ describe('ssr useScript', () => {
     `)
   })
   it('server', async () => {
-    const head = createHeadWithContext()
+    const head = createServerHeadWithContext()
 
     useScript({
       src: 'https://cdn.example.com/script.js',
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ describe('ssr useScript', () => {
     `)
   })
   it('await ', async () => {
-    const head = createHeadWithContext()
+    const head = createServerHeadWithContext()
 
     // mock a promise, test that it isn't resolved in 1 second
     useScript<{ foo: 'bar' }>({
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ describe('ssr useScript', () => {
     `)
   })
   it('google ', async () => {
-    const head = createHeadWithContext()
+    const head = createServerHeadWithContext()
 
     const gtag = useScript<{ dataLayer: any[] }>({
       src: 'https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id=GTM-MNJD4B',