diff --git a/code/core/src/bin/loader.test.ts b/code/core/src/bin/loader.test.ts
index b0738b3e9ae2..b6a51375f96c 100644
--- a/code/core/src/bin/loader.test.ts
+++ b/code/core/src/bin/loader.test.ts
@@ -1,24 +1,73 @@
 import { readdirSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
 
 import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
 
 import { deprecate } from 'storybook/internal/node-logger';
 
+import { transform } from 'esbuild';
+
 import {
   addExtensionsToRelativeImports,
   clearDirectoryCache,
+  load,
   resolveWithExtension,
 } from './loader.ts';
 
 // Mock dependencies
 vi.mock('node:fs');
+vi.mock('node:fs/promises');
 vi.mock('storybook/internal/node-logger');
+vi.mock('esbuild');
 
 describe('loader', () => {
   beforeEach(() => {
     clearDirectoryCache();
   });
 
+  describe('load', () => {
+    const nextLoad = vi.fn();
+
+    beforeEach(() => {
+      nextLoad.mockReset();
+      vi.mocked(readFile).mockResolvedValue('const x: number = 1;');
+      vi.mocked(transform).mockResolvedValue({
+        code: 'const x = 1;',
+        map: '',
+        warnings: [],
+      } as any);
+    });
+
+    it('transforms a plain .ts URL with esbuild', async () => {
+      const result = await load('file:///project/main.ts', {} as any, nextLoad);
+
+      expect(transform).toHaveBeenCalled();
+      expect(nextLoad).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+      expect(result).toMatchObject({ format: 'module', shortCircuit: true });
+    });
+
+    it('still transforms a .ts URL with a cache-busting query string appended', async () => {
+      // Regression test: importModule appends `?<timestamp>` to bust the module cache when
+      // skipCache is set. That must not cause this loader to skip the file and fall through to
+      // Node's native handling, which does not elide type-only named imports the way esbuild does.
+      const result = await load('file:///project/main.ts?1234567890', {} as any, nextLoad);
+
+      expect(readFile).toHaveBeenCalledWith('/project/main.ts', 'utf-8');
+      expect(transform).toHaveBeenCalled();
+      expect(nextLoad).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+      expect(result).toMatchObject({ format: 'module', shortCircuit: true });
+    });
+
+    it('delegates non-TS URLs to nextLoad', async () => {
+      nextLoad.mockResolvedValue({ format: 'module', shortCircuit: true, source: '' });
+
+      await load('file:///project/main.js', {} as any, nextLoad);
+
+      expect(transform).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+      expect(nextLoad).toHaveBeenCalledWith('file:///project/main.js', {});
+    });
+  });
+
   describe('resolveWithExtension', () => {
     it('should return the path as-is if it already has an extension', () => {
       const result = resolveWithExtension('./test.js', '/project/src/file.ts');
diff --git a/code/core/src/bin/loader.ts b/code/core/src/bin/loader.ts
index a9f44613c6a1..d75fd003d752 100644
--- a/code/core/src/bin/loader.ts
+++ b/code/core/src/bin/loader.ts
@@ -137,16 +137,21 @@ export function addExtensionsToRelativeImports(source: string, filePath: string)
 }
 
 export const load: LoadHook = async (url, context, nextLoad) => {
+  // Strip any query string (e.g. the cache-busting `?<timestamp>` importModule appends for
+  // skipCache) before checking the extension, otherwise a cache-busted URL like
+  // `file:///main.ts?123` no longer ends with `.ts` and silently skips the esbuild transform below.
+  const urlWithoutQuery = url.split('?')[0];
+
   /** Convert TS to ESM using esbuild */
   if (
-    url.endsWith('.ts') ||
-    url.endsWith('.tsx') ||
-    url.endsWith('.mts') ||
-    url.endsWith('.cts') ||
-    url.endsWith('.mtsx') ||
-    url.endsWith('.ctsx')
+    urlWithoutQuery.endsWith('.ts') ||
+    urlWithoutQuery.endsWith('.tsx') ||
+    urlWithoutQuery.endsWith('.mts') ||
+    urlWithoutQuery.endsWith('.cts') ||
+    urlWithoutQuery.endsWith('.mtsx') ||
+    urlWithoutQuery.endsWith('.ctsx')
   ) {
-    const filePath = fileURLToPath(url);
+    const filePath = fileURLToPath(urlWithoutQuery);
     const rawSource = await readFile(filePath, 'utf-8');
     const transformedSource = await transform(rawSource, {
       loader: 'ts',
diff --git a/code/core/src/cli/getStorybookData.ts b/code/core/src/cli/getStorybookData.ts
index 38f126dcc303..e0972c37498b 100644
--- a/code/core/src/cli/getStorybookData.ts
+++ b/code/core/src/cli/getStorybookData.ts
@@ -23,9 +23,16 @@ export function getWorkingDir(configDir: string): string {
 export const getStorybookData = async ({
   configDir: userDefinedConfigDir,
   packageManagerName,
+  skipCache,
 }: {
   configDir?: string;
   packageManagerName?: PackageManagerName;
+  /**
+   * Skip the module cache when reading the main config. Pass `true` when a prior step in the same
+   * process (e.g. an automigration) may have rewritten the main config on disk, otherwise this
+   * would read back the module system's cached evaluation from before that rewrite.
+   */
+  skipCache?: boolean;
 }) => {
   logger.debug('Getting Storybook info...');
   const {
@@ -41,7 +48,8 @@ export const getStorybookData = async ({
     addons,
   } = await getStorybookInfo(
     userDefinedConfigDir,
-    userDefinedConfigDir ? dirname(userDefinedConfigDir) : undefined
+    userDefinedConfigDir ? dirname(userDefinedConfigDir) : undefined,
+    { skipCache }
   );
 
   const configDir = userDefinedConfigDir || configDirFromScript || '.storybook';
diff --git a/code/core/src/common/utils/get-storybook-info.ts b/code/core/src/common/utils/get-storybook-info.ts
index 3652807aba3a..f62b98ed21c5 100644
--- a/code/core/src/common/utils/get-storybook-info.ts
+++ b/code/core/src/common/utils/get-storybook-info.ts
@@ -1,13 +1,17 @@
 import { existsSync, readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { dirname, join } from 'node:path';
 
-import { CoreWebpackCompiler, SupportedFramework } from 'storybook/internal/types';
 import type {
   CoreCommon_StorybookInfo,
   PackageJson,
   StorybookConfigRaw,
 } from 'storybook/internal/types';
-import { SupportedBuilder, SupportedRenderer } from 'storybook/internal/types';
+import {
+  CoreWebpackCompiler,
+  SupportedBuilder,
+  SupportedFramework,
+  SupportedRenderer,
+} from 'storybook/internal/types';
 
 import invariant from 'tiny-invariant';
 
diff --git a/code/lib/cli-storybook/src/add.ts b/code/lib/cli-storybook/src/add.ts
index a9fb093cf3e9..2e11eebbbdfb 100644
--- a/code/lib/cli-storybook/src/add.ts
+++ b/code/lib/cli-storybook/src/add.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import { type PackageManagerName, setupAddonInConfig, versions } from 'storybook/internal/common';
 import { readConfig } from 'storybook/internal/csf-tools';
-import { logger as nodeLogger } from 'storybook/internal/node-logger';
-import { prompt } from 'storybook/internal/node-logger';
+import { logger as nodeLogger, prompt } from 'storybook/internal/node-logger';
 import type { StorybookConfigRaw } from 'storybook/internal/types';
 
 import SemVer from 'semver';
@@ -92,6 +91,7 @@ export async function add(
     await getStorybookData({
       configDir: userSpecifiedConfigDir,
       packageManagerName: pkgMgr,
+      skipCache: true,
     });
 
   if (typeof configDir === 'undefined') {