diff --git a/.changeset/proud-socks-smash.md b/.changeset/proud-socks-smash.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..42b301bded91
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/proud-socks-smash.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@sveltejs/kit': minor
+---
+
+feat: `$env/*` modules can now be imported from Playwright and other code running without Vite
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/cli.js b/packages/kit/src/cli.js
index 9f56e2e17814..db2413e86b5a 100755
--- a/packages/kit/src/cli.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/cli.js
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ const prog = sade('svelte-kit').version(pkg.version);
 
 prog
 	.command('sync')
-	.describe('Synchronise generated type definitions')
+	.describe('Synchronise generated type definitions and $env modules')
 	.option('--mode', 'Specify a mode for loading environment variables', 'development')
 	.action(async ({ mode }) => {
 		const config_files = ['js', 'ts']
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/core/adapt/builder.js b/packages/kit/src/core/adapt/builder.js
index 20124e43e334..d956c3866fc5 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/core/adapt/builder.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/core/adapt/builder.js
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import zlib from 'node:zlib';
 import { copy, rimraf, mkdirp, posixify } from '../../utils/filesystem.js';
 import { generate_manifest } from '../generate_manifest/index.js';
 import { get_route_segments } from '../../utils/routing.js';
-import { get_env } from '../../exports/vite/utils.js';
+import { get_env } from '../../exports/vite/env.js';
 import generate_fallback from '../postbuild/fallback.js';
 import { write } from '../sync/utils.js';
 import { list_files } from '../utils.js';
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/core/env.js b/packages/kit/src/core/env.js
index 455eb0f44b68..0638d25f8072 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/core/env.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/core/env.js
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ export function create_static_module(id, env) {
 /**
  * @param {EnvType} type
  * @param {Record<string, string> | undefined} dev_values If in a development mode, values to pre-populate the module with.
+ * @returns {string}
  */
 export function create_dynamic_module(type, dev_values) {
 	if (dev_values) {
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/core/sync/sync.js b/packages/kit/src/core/sync/sync.js
index c77bbca30f27..b6cffdc63dc2 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/core/sync/sync.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/core/sync/sync.js
@@ -7,13 +7,17 @@ import { write_types, write_all_types } from './write_types/index.js';
 import { write_ambient } from './write_ambient.js';
 import { write_non_ambient } from './write_non_ambient.js';
 import { write_server } from './write_server.js';
+import { write_env } from './write_env.js';
+import { get_env } from '../../exports/vite/env.js';
 
 /**
  * Initialize SvelteKit's generated files that only depend on the config and mode.
  * @param {import('types').ValidatedConfig} config
  * @param {string} mode
+ * @param {import('../../exports/vite/types.js').Env} env
  */
-export function init(config, mode) {
+export function init(config, mode, env) {
+	write_env(config.kit, mode, env);
 	write_tsconfig(config.kit);
 	write_ambient(config.kit, mode);
 }
@@ -52,19 +56,22 @@ export function update(config, manifest_data, file) {
  * Run sync.init and sync.create in series, returning the result from sync.create.
  * @param {import('types').ValidatedConfig} config
  * @param {string} mode The Vite mode
+ * @param {import('../../exports/vite/types.js').Env} env
  */
-export function all(config, mode) {
-	init(config, mode);
+export function all(config, mode, env) {
+	init(config, mode, env);
 	return create(config);
 }
 
 /**
- * Run sync.init and then generate all type files.
+ * Run sync.init and then generate all type files and $env modules.
  * @param {import('types').ValidatedConfig} config
  * @param {string} mode The Vite mode
  */
 export function all_types(config, mode) {
-	init(config, mode);
+	const env = get_env(config.kit.env, mode);
+
+	init(config, mode, env);
 	const manifest_data = create_manifest_data({ config });
 	write_all_types(config, manifest_data);
 	write_non_ambient(config.kit, manifest_data);
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/core/sync/write_ambient.js b/packages/kit/src/core/sync/write_ambient.js
index 1f2188097ade..e02d3c21db6d 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/core/sync/write_ambient.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/core/sync/write_ambient.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import path from 'node:path';
 import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
-import { get_env } from '../../exports/vite/utils.js';
+import { get_env } from '../../exports/vite/env.js';
 import { GENERATED_COMMENT } from '../../constants.js';
 import { create_dynamic_types, create_static_types } from '../env.js';
 import { write_if_changed } from './utils.js';
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/core/sync/write_env.js b/packages/kit/src/core/sync/write_env.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..3cebbd354786
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/kit/src/core/sync/write_env.js
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+import path from 'node:path';
+import { dedent, write_if_changed } from './utils.js';
+import { create_static_module } from '../env.js';
+import { runtime_directory } from '../utils.js';
+import { s } from '../../utils/misc.js';
+
+/**
+ * This version deviates from the one in env.js because we don't want to
+ * serialise the user's dynamic environment variables. Instead, it loads the
+ * environment variables directly. This is okay because it will only be used by
+ * modules importing $env/dynamic/* from outside the Vite pipeline. Those inside
+ * the Vite pipeline will load the virtual module which reuses the already loaded
+ * environment variables.
+ * @param {import('../env.js').EnvType} type
+ * @returns {string}
+ */
+function create_dynamic_module(type) {
+	return dedent`
+		import { env as full_env } from './internal.js';
+
+		export const env = full_env.${type};
+	`;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Writes env variable modules to the output directory
+ * @param {import('types').ValidatedKitConfig} config
+ * @param {string} mode
+ * @param {import('../../exports/vite/types.js').Env} env
+ */
+export function write_env(config, mode, env) {
+	const env_static_private = create_static_module('$env/static/private', env.private);
+	write_if_changed(
+		path.join(config.outDir, 'generated', 'env', 'static', 'private.js'),
+		env_static_private
+	);
+
+	const env_static_public = create_static_module('$env/static/public', env.public);
+	write_if_changed(
+		path.join(config.outDir, 'generated', 'env', 'static', 'public.js'),
+		env_static_public
+	);
+
+	const env_dynamic = dedent`
+		import { get_env } from '${runtime_directory}/../exports/vite/env.js';
+
+		export const env = get_env(${s(config.env)}, ${s(mode)});
+	`;
+	write_if_changed(
+		path.join(config.outDir, 'generated', 'env', 'dynamic', 'internal.js'),
+		env_dynamic
+	);
+
+	const env_dynamic_private = create_dynamic_module('private');
+	write_if_changed(
+		path.join(config.outDir, 'generated', 'env', 'dynamic', 'private.js'),
+		env_dynamic_private
+	);
+
+	const env_dynamic_public = create_dynamic_module('public');
+	write_if_changed(
+		path.join(config.outDir, 'generated', 'env', 'dynamic', 'public.js'),
+		env_dynamic_public
+	);
+}
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/core/sync/write_root.js b/packages/kit/src/core/sync/write_root.js
index 5866b3d8e783..c5a2be5ca39b 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/core/sync/write_root.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/core/sync/write_root.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { dedent, isSvelte5Plus, write_if_changed } from './utils.js';
 
 /**
+ * Creates the "App.svelte" root component used to mount the user's layouts and pages
  * @param {import('types').ManifestData} manifest_data
  * @param {string} output
  */
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/core/sync/write_tsconfig.js b/packages/kit/src/core/sync/write_tsconfig.js
index 6bca8214bdb1..e5727257acbb 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/core/sync/write_tsconfig.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/core/sync/write_tsconfig.js
@@ -76,10 +76,10 @@ export function get_tsconfig(kit) {
 
 	// Test folder is a special case - we advocate putting tests in a top-level test folder
 	// and it's not configurable (should we make it?)
-	const test_folder = project_relative('tests');
-	include.add(config_relative(`${test_folder}/**/*.js`));
-	include.add(config_relative(`${test_folder}/**/*.ts`));
-	include.add(config_relative(`${test_folder}/**/*.svelte`));
+	const tests_folder = project_relative('tests');
+	include.add(config_relative(`${tests_folder}/**/*.js`));
+	include.add(config_relative(`${tests_folder}/**/*.ts`));
+	include.add(config_relative(`${tests_folder}/**/*.svelte`));
 
 	const exclude = [config_relative('node_modules/**')];
 	// Add service worker to exclude list so that worker types references in it don't spill over into the rest of the app
@@ -100,6 +100,11 @@ export function get_tsconfig(kit) {
 			// generated options
 			paths: {
 				...get_tsconfig_paths(kit),
+				// This allows files outside the Vite pipeline to access $env
+				'$env/static/private': ['./generated/env/static/private.js'],
+				'$env/static/public': ['./generated/env/static/public.js'],
+				'$env/dynamic/private': ['./generated/env/dynamic/private.js'],
+				'$env/dynamic/public': ['./generated/env/dynamic/public.js'],
 				'$app/types': ['./types/index.d.ts']
 			},
 			rootDirs: [config_relative('.'), './types'],
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/core/sync/write_tsconfig.spec.js b/packages/kit/src/core/sync/write_tsconfig.spec.js
index fbd780d74bdd..22d700615306 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/core/sync/write_tsconfig.spec.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/core/sync/write_tsconfig.spec.js
@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@ test('Creates tsconfig path aliases from kit.alias', () => {
 	// check in the implementation
 	expect(compilerOptions.paths).toEqual({
 		'$app/types': ['./types/index.d.ts'],
+		'$env/static/private': ['./generated/env/static/private.js'],
+		'$env/static/public': ['./generated/env/static/public.js'],
+		'$env/dynamic/private': ['./generated/env/dynamic/private.js'],
+		'$env/dynamic/public': ['./generated/env/dynamic/public.js'],
 		simpleKey: ['../simple/value'],
 		'simpleKey/*': ['../simple/value/*'],
 		key: ['../value'],
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/build/build_service_worker.js b/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/build/build_service_worker.js
index a90c62dd1a4a..6f5a5fa84f18 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/build/build_service_worker.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/build/build_service_worker.js
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@ import fs from 'node:fs';
 import * as vite from 'vite';
 import { dedent } from '../../../core/sync/utils.js';
 import { s } from '../../../utils/misc.js';
-import { get_config_aliases, strip_virtual_prefix, get_env, normalize_id } from '../utils.js';
+import { get_config_aliases, strip_virtual_prefix, normalize_id } from '../utils.js';
+import { get_env } from '../env.js';
 import { create_static_module } from '../../../core/env.js';
 import { env_static_public, service_worker } from '../module_ids.js';
 
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/dev/index.js b/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/dev/index.js
index 31c13c1ead8b..2dc5a373995c 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/dev/index.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/dev/index.js
@@ -30,9 +30,10 @@ const vite_css_query_regex = /(?:\?|&)(?:raw|url|inline)(?:&|$)/;
  * @param {import('vite').ResolvedConfig} vite_config
  * @param {import('types').ValidatedConfig} svelte_config
  * @param {() => Array<{ hash: string, file: string }>} get_remotes
+ * @param {import('../types.js').Env} kit_env
  * @return {Promise<Promise<() => void>>}
  */
-export async function dev(vite, vite_config, svelte_config, get_remotes) {
+export async function dev(vite, vite_config, svelte_config, get_remotes, kit_env) {
 	installPolyfills();
 
 	const async_local_storage = new AsyncLocalStorage();
@@ -55,7 +56,7 @@ export async function dev(vite, vite_config, svelte_config, get_remotes) {
 		return fetch(info, init);
 	};
 
-	sync.init(svelte_config, vite_config.mode);
+	sync.init(svelte_config, vite_config.mode, kit_env);
 
 	/** @type {import('types').ManifestData} */
 	let manifest_data;
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/env.js b/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/env.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6c359d06e478
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/env.js
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import { loadEnv } from 'vite';
+import { filter_env } from '../../utils/env.js';
+
+/**
+ * Load environment variables from process.env and .env files
+ * @param {{ dir: string; publicPrefix: string; privatePrefix: string }} env_config
+ * @param {string} mode
+ * @returns {import('./types.js').Env}
+ */
+export function get_env(env_config, mode) {
+	const { publicPrefix: public_prefix, privatePrefix: private_prefix } = env_config;
+	const env = loadEnv(mode, env_config.dir, '');
+
+	return {
+		public: filter_env(env, public_prefix, private_prefix),
+		private: filter_env(env, private_prefix, public_prefix)
+	};
+}
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/index.js b/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/index.js
index 445001139726..7f3145897a80 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/index.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/index.js
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import process from 'node:process';
 import colors from 'kleur';
 
 import { copy, mkdirp, posixify, read, resolve_entry, rimraf } from '../../utils/filesystem.js';
-import { create_static_module, create_dynamic_module } from '../../core/env.js';
+import { create_dynamic_module } from '../../core/env.js';
 import * as sync from '../../core/sync/sync.js';
 import { create_assets } from '../../core/sync/create_manifest_data/index.js';
 import { runtime_directory, logger } from '../../core/utils.js';
@@ -16,13 +16,7 @@ import { build_service_worker } from './build/build_service_worker.js';
 import { assets_base, find_deps, resolve_symlinks } from './build/utils.js';
 import { dev } from './dev/index.js';
 import { preview } from './preview/index.js';
-import {
-	error_for_missing_config,
-	get_config_aliases,
-	get_env,
-	normalize_id,
-	stackless
-} from './utils.js';
+import { error_for_missing_config, get_config_aliases, normalize_id, stackless } from './utils.js';
 import { write_client_manifest } from '../../core/sync/write_client_manifest.js';
 import prerender from '../../core/postbuild/prerender.js';
 import analyse from '../../core/postbuild/analyse.js';
@@ -41,6 +35,7 @@ import {
 import { import_peer } from '../../utils/import.js';
 import { compact } from '../../utils/array.js';
 import { should_ignore } from './static_analysis/utils.js';
+import { get_env } from './env.js';
 
 const cwd = posixify(process.cwd());
 
@@ -209,7 +204,7 @@ async function kit({ svelte_config }) {
 	/** @type {boolean} */
 	let is_build;
 
-	/** @type {{ public: Record<string, string>; private: Record<string, string> }} */
+	/** @type {import('./types.js').Env} */
 	let env;
 
 	/** @type {() => Promise<void>} */
@@ -370,7 +365,7 @@ async function kit({ svelte_config }) {
 				};
 
 				if (!secondary_build_started) {
-					manifest_data = sync.all(svelte_config, config_env.mode).manifest_data;
+					manifest_data = sync.all(svelte_config, config_env.mode, env).manifest_data;
 					// During the initial server build we don't know yet
 					new_config.define.__SVELTEKIT_HAS_SERVER_LOAD__ = 'true';
 					new_config.define.__SVELTEKIT_HAS_UNIVERSAL_LOAD__ = 'true';
@@ -474,10 +469,10 @@ async function kit({ svelte_config }) {
 
 			switch (id) {
 				case env_static_private:
-					return create_static_module('$env/static/private', env.private);
+					return read(`${kit.outDir}/generated/env/static/private.js`);
 
 				case env_static_public:
-					return create_static_module('$env/static/public', env.public);
+					return read(`${kit.outDir}/generated/env/static/public.js`);
 
 				case env_dynamic_private:
 					return create_dynamic_module(
@@ -590,7 +585,7 @@ async function kit({ svelte_config }) {
 
 			if (is_server_only) {
 				// in dev, this doesn't exist, so we need to create it
-				manifest_data ??= sync.all(svelte_config, vite_config_env.mode).manifest_data;
+				manifest_data ??= sync.all(svelte_config, vite_config_env.mode, env).manifest_data;
 
 				/** @type {Set<string>} */
 				const entrypoints = new Set();
@@ -975,7 +970,7 @@ async function kit({ svelte_config }) {
 		 * @see https://vitejs.dev/guide/api-plugin.html#configureserver
 		 */
 		async configureServer(vite) {
-			return await dev(vite, vite_config, svelte_config, () => remotes);
+			return await dev(vite, vite_config, svelte_config, () => remotes, env);
 		},
 
 		/**
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/types.d.ts b/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/types.d.ts
index 900aa43541ea..d72c90ce8cbe 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/types.d.ts
+++ b/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/types.d.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
 export interface EnforcedConfig {
 	[key: string]: EnforcedConfig | true;
 }
+
+export interface Env {
+	public: Record<string, string>;
+	private: Record<string, string>;
+}
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/utils.js b/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/utils.js
index 77743bda77c9..0b4ec5249e93 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/utils.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/exports/vite/utils.js
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 import path from 'node:path';
-import { loadEnv } from 'vite';
 import { posixify } from '../../utils/filesystem.js';
 import { negotiate } from '../../utils/http.js';
-import { filter_env } from '../../utils/env.js';
 import { escape_html } from '../../utils/escape.js';
 import { dedent } from '../../core/sync/utils.js';
 import {
@@ -61,21 +59,6 @@ function escape_for_regexp(str) {
 	return str.replace(/[.*+?^${}()|[\]\\]/g, (match) => '\\' + match);
 }
 
-/**
- * Load environment variables from process.env and .env files
- * @param {import('types').ValidatedKitConfig['env']} env_config
- * @param {string} mode
- */
-export function get_env(env_config, mode) {
-	const { publicPrefix: public_prefix, privatePrefix: private_prefix } = env_config;
-	const env = loadEnv(mode, env_config.dir, '');
-
-	return {
-		public: filter_env(env, public_prefix, private_prefix),
-		private: filter_env(env, private_prefix, public_prefix)
-	};
-}
-
 /**
  * @param {import('http').IncomingMessage} req
  * @param {import('http').ServerResponse} res
diff --git a/packages/kit/test/apps/basics/test/cross-platform/server.test.js b/packages/kit/test/apps/basics/test/cross-platform/server.test.js
index 678a07d575eb..e96d8118927c 100644
--- a/packages/kit/test/apps/basics/test/cross-platform/server.test.js
+++ b/packages/kit/test/apps/basics/test/cross-platform/server.test.js
@@ -13,3 +13,25 @@ test.describe('Static files', () => {
 		expect(response.status()).toBe(404);
 	});
 });
+
+test.describe('$env access outside the Vite pipeline', () => {
+	test('$env/static/public', async () => {
+		const env = await import('$env/static/public');
+		expect(env.PUBLIC_DYNAMIC).toBe('accessible anywhere/evaluated at run time');
+	});
+
+	test('$env/static/private', async () => {
+		const env = await import('$env/static/private');
+		expect(env.PRIVATE_STATIC).toBe('accessible to server-side code/replaced at build time');
+	});
+
+	test('$env/dynamic/public', async () => {
+		const { env } = await import('$env/dynamic/public');
+		expect(env.PUBLIC_DYNAMIC).toBe('accessible anywhere/evaluated at run time');
+	});
+
+	test('$env/dynamic/private', async () => {
+		const { env } = await import('$env/dynamic/private');
+		expect(env.PRIVATE_DYNAMIC).toBe('accessible to server-side code/evaluated at run time');
+	});
+});