diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/utils.ts b/packages/vite/src/node/utils.ts
index ec0d6bfe0851c9..08e28871e8ea56 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/node/utils.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/utils.ts
@@ -652,7 +652,7 @@ let firstSafeRealPathRun = false
 
 async function windowsSafeRealPath(path: string): Promise<string> {
   if (!firstSafeRealPathRun) {
-    await optimizeSafeRealPath()
+    optimizeSafeRealPath()
     firstSafeRealPathRun = true
   }
   return fs.realpathSync(path)