diff --git a/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/define.ts b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/define.ts
index c0c37183b81aaf..c9568ada69799b 100644
--- a/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/define.ts
+++ b/packages/vite/src/node/plugins/define.ts
@@ -41,13 +41,7 @@ export function definePlugin(config: ResolvedConfig): Plugin {
     if (isBuild) {
       const match = key.match(metaEnvRe)
       if (match) {
-        userDefineEnv[match[1]] =
-          // test if value is raw identifier to wrap with __vite__ so when
-          // stringified for `import.meta.env`, we can remove the quotes and
-          // retain being an identifier
-          typeof val === 'string' && /^[\p{L}_$]/u.test(val.trim())
-            ? `__vite__define__${val}`
-            : val
+        userDefineEnv[match[1]] = `__vite__define__${userDefine[key]}`
       }
     }
   }
@@ -67,7 +61,10 @@ export function definePlugin(config: ResolvedConfig): Plugin {
         ...config.env,
         SSR: '__vite__ssr__',
         ...userDefineEnv,
-      }).replace(/"__vite__define__(.+?)"/g, (_, val) => val),
+      }).replace(
+        /"__vite__define__(.+?)"([,}])/g,
+        (_, val, suffix) => `${val.replace(/(^\\")|(\\"$)/g, '"')}${suffix}`,
+      ),
     })
   }
 
diff --git a/playground/env/__tests__/env.spec.ts b/playground/env/__tests__/env.spec.ts
index 8146eb128df915..91227abe21fb2c 100644
--- a/playground/env/__tests__/env.spec.ts
+++ b/playground/env/__tests__/env.spec.ts
@@ -37,8 +37,10 @@ test('inline variables', async () => {
   )
 })
 
-test('bool', async () => {
+test('define', async () => {
   expect(await page.textContent('.bool')).toBe('boolean')
+  expect(await page.textContent('.number')).toBe('number')
+  expect(await page.textContent('.string')).toBe('string')
 })
 
 test('NODE_ENV', async () => {
@@ -79,6 +81,8 @@ test('env object', async () => {
     MODE: mode,
     DEV: !isBuild,
     PROD: isBuild,
+    VITE_NUMBER: 123,
+    VITE_STRING: '123',
   })
 })
 
diff --git a/playground/env/index.html b/playground/env/index.html
index 07f1cf8f7df79b..547b424ee809e4 100644
--- a/playground/env/index.html
+++ b/playground/env/index.html
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ <h1>Environment Variables</h1>
 </p>
 <p>import.meta.env.VITE_INLINE: <code class="inline"></code></p>
 <p>typeof import.meta.env.VITE_BOOL: <code class="bool"></code></p>
+<p>typeof import.meta.env.VITE_NUMBER: <code class="number"></code></p>
+<p>typeof import.meta.env.VITE_STRING: <code class="string"></code></p>
 <p>process.env.NODE_ENV: <code class="node-env"></code></p>
 <p>global.process.env.NODE_ENV: <code class="global-node-env"></code></p>
 <p>
@@ -34,6 +36,8 @@ <h1>Environment Variables</h1>
   text('.mode-file', import.meta.env.VITE_EFFECTIVE_MODE_FILE_NAME)
   text('.inline', import.meta.env.VITE_INLINE)
   text('.bool', typeof import.meta.env.VITE_BOOL)
+  text('.number', typeof import.meta.env.VITE_NUMBER)
+  text('.string', typeof import.meta.env.VITE_STRING)
   text('.ssr', import.meta.env.SSR)
   text('.node-env', process.env.NODE_ENV)
   text('.global-node-env', global.process.env.NODE_ENV)
diff --git a/playground/env/vite.config.js b/playground/env/vite.config.js
index 58b93b9dd47d0c..1f15f79c6afd3b 100644
--- a/playground/env/vite.config.js
+++ b/playground/env/vite.config.js
@@ -10,5 +10,7 @@ export default defineConfig({
   },
   define: {
     'import.meta.env.VITE_BOOL': true,
+    'import.meta.env.VITE_NUMBER': '123',
+    'import.meta.env.VITE_STRING': JSON.stringify('123'),
   },
 })