diff --git a/packages/playground/data-uri/__tests__/data-uri.spec.ts b/packages/playground/data-uri/__tests__/data-uri.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..e1d488c931e7c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/playground/data-uri/__tests__/data-uri.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+import { isBuild, findAssetFile } from '../../testUtils'
+
+test('plain', async () => {
+  expect(await page.textContent('.plain')).toBe('hi')
+})
+
+test('base64', async () => {
+  expect(await page.textContent('.base64')).toBe('hi')
+})
+
+if (isBuild) {
+  test('should compile away the import for build', async () => {
+    const file = findAssetFile('index')
+    expect(file).not.toMatch('import')
+  })
+}
diff --git a/packages/playground/data-uri/index.html b/packages/playground/data-uri/index.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..80e0fc6fcc6c17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/playground/data-uri/index.html
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+<div class="plain"></div>
+<div class="base64"></div>
+
+<script type="module">
+  import msg from "data:text/javascript, export default 'hi'"
+  document.querySelector('.plain').textContent = msg
+
+  import base64Msg from 'data:text/javascript;base64, ZXhwb3J0IGRlZmF1bHQgJ2hpJw=='
+  document.querySelector('.base64').textContent = base64Msg
+</script>
diff --git a/packages/playground/data-uri/package.json b/packages/playground/data-uri/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..6197cbb29e7589
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/playground/data-uri/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+{
+  "name": "test-data-uri",
+  "private": true,
+  "version": "0.0.0",
+  "scripts": {
+    "dev": "vite",
+    "build": "vite build",
+    "debug": "node --inspect-brk ../../vite/bin/vite"
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/dataUri.ts b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/dataUri.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..a4b1df82df5a65
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/dataUri.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+// This is based on @rollup/plugin-data-uri
+// MIT Licensed https://github.com/rollup/plugins/blob/master/LICENSE
+// ref https://github.com/vitejs/vite/issues/1428#issuecomment-757033808
+import { Plugin } from '../plugin'
+import { URL } from 'url'
+
+const dataUriRE = /^([^/]+\/[^;,]+)(;base64)?,([\s\S]*)$/
+
+const dataUriPrefix = `/@data-uri/`
+
+export function dataURIPlugin(): Plugin {
+  const resolved: {
+    [key: string]: string
+  } = {}
+
+  return {
+    name: 'vite:data-uri',
+    resolveId(id) {
+      if (!dataUriRE.test(id)) {
+        return null
+      }
+
+      const uri = new URL(id)
+      if (uri.protocol !== 'data:') {
+        return null
+      }
+
+      const match = uri.pathname.match(dataUriRE)
+      if (!match) {
+        return null
+      }
+
+      const [, mime, format, data] = match
+      if (mime !== 'text/javascript') {
+        throw new Error(
+          `data URI with non-JavaScript mime type is not supported.`
+        )
+      }
+
+      // decode data
+      const base64 = format && /base64/i.test(format.substring(1))
+      const content = base64
+        ? Buffer.from(data, 'base64').toString('utf-8')
+        : data
+      resolved[id] = content
+      return dataUriPrefix + id
+    },
+
+    load(id) {
+      if (id.startsWith(dataUriPrefix)) {
+        id = id.slice(dataUriPrefix.length)
+        return resolved[id] || null
+      }
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/index.ts b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/index.ts
index 4281ede5a69cb4..12c0aeb6d095af 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/index.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/index.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import { htmlPlugin } from './html'
 import { wasmPlugin } from './wasm'
 import { webWorkerPlugin } from './worker'
 import { dynamicImportPolyfillPlugin } from './dynamicImportPolyfill'
+import { dataURIPlugin } from './dataUri'
 
 export async function resolvePlugins(
   config: ResolvedConfig,
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@ export async function resolvePlugins(
       preferConst: true,
       namedExports: true
     }),
+    isBuild ? dataURIPlugin() : null,
     wasmPlugin(config),
     webWorkerPlugin(config),
     assetPlugin(config),
diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/resolve.ts b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/resolve.ts
index 6ea302595907d9..6bbebfd9c658f1 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/resolve.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/resolve.ts
@@ -8,12 +8,12 @@ import {
   createDebugger,
   deepImportRE,
   injectQuery,
-  isDataUrl,
   isExternalUrl,
   isObject,
   normalizePath,
   fsPathFromId,
-  resolveFrom
+  resolveFrom,
+  isDataUrl
 } from '../utils'
 import { ResolvedConfig, ViteDevServer } from '..'
 import slash from 'slash'
@@ -131,13 +131,19 @@ export function resolvePlugin({
       }
 
       // external
-      if (isExternalUrl(id) || isDataUrl(id)) {
+      if (isExternalUrl(id)) {
         return {
           id,
           external: true
         }
       }
 
+      // data uri: pass through (this only happens during build and will be
+      // handled by dedicated plugin)
+      if (isDataUrl(id)) {
+        return null
+      }
+
       // bare package imports, perform node resolve
       if (bareImportRE.test(id)) {
         // externalize node built-ins only when building for ssr