diff --git a/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/builders/application/options.ts b/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/builders/application/options.ts
index 3679e3d5f2..14475a434a 100644
--- a/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/builders/application/options.ts
+++ b/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/builders/application/options.ts
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ interface InternalOptions {
    * Indicates whether all node packages should be marked as external.
    * Currently used by the dev-server to support prebundling.
    */
-  externalPackages?: boolean;
+  externalPackages?: boolean | { exclude: string[] };
 
   /**
    * Forces the output from the localize post-processing to not create nested directories per locale output.
diff --git a/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/tools/esbuild/application-code-bundle.ts b/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/tools/esbuild/application-code-bundle.ts
index 7b5a08cdcd..1ddfdd5926 100644
--- a/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/tools/esbuild/application-code-bundle.ts
+++ b/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/tools/esbuild/application-code-bundle.ts
@@ -66,9 +66,17 @@ export function createBrowserCodeBundleOptions(
 
   if (options.externalPackages) {
     // Package files affected by a customized loader should not be implicitly marked as external
-    if (options.loaderExtensions || options.plugins) {
+    if (
+      options.loaderExtensions ||
+      options.plugins ||
+      typeof options.externalPackages === 'object'
+    ) {
       // Plugin must be added after custom plugins to ensure any added loader options are considered
-      buildOptions.plugins?.push(createExternalPackagesPlugin());
+      buildOptions.plugins?.push(
+        createExternalPackagesPlugin(
+          options.externalPackages !== true ? options.externalPackages : undefined,
+        ),
+      );
     } else {
       // Safe to use the packages external option directly
       buildOptions.packages = 'external';
diff --git a/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/tools/esbuild/external-packages-plugin.ts b/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/tools/esbuild/external-packages-plugin.ts
index a090503b3e..fda108b984 100644
--- a/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/tools/esbuild/external-packages-plugin.ts
+++ b/packages/angular_devkit/build_angular/src/tools/esbuild/external-packages-plugin.ts
@@ -18,21 +18,23 @@ const EXTERNAL_PACKAGE_RESOLUTION = Symbol('EXTERNAL_PACKAGE_RESOLUTION');
  *
  * @returns An esbuild plugin.
  */
-export function createExternalPackagesPlugin(): Plugin {
+export function createExternalPackagesPlugin(options?: { exclude?: string[] }): Plugin {
+  const exclusions = options?.exclude?.length ? new Set(options.exclude) : undefined;
+
   return {
     name: 'angular-external-packages',
     setup(build) {
-      // Safe to use native packages external option if no loader options present
-      if (
-        build.initialOptions.loader === undefined ||
-        Object.keys(build.initialOptions.loader).length === 0
-      ) {
+      const loaderOptionKeys =
+        build.initialOptions.loader && Object.keys(build.initialOptions.loader);
+
+      // Safe to use native packages external option if no loader options or exclusions present
+      if (!exclusions && !loaderOptionKeys?.length) {
         build.initialOptions.packages = 'external';
 
         return;
       }
 
-      const loaderFileExtensions = new Set(Object.keys(build.initialOptions.loader));
+      const loaderFileExtensions = new Set(loaderOptionKeys);
 
       // Only attempt resolve of non-relative and non-absolute paths
       build.onResolve({ filter: /^[^./]/ }, async (args) => {
@@ -40,6 +42,10 @@ export function createExternalPackagesPlugin(): Plugin {
           return null;
         }
 
+        if (exclusions?.has(args.path)) {
+          return null;
+        }
+
         const { importer, kind, resolveDir, namespace, pluginData = {} } = args;
         pluginData[EXTERNAL_PACKAGE_RESOLUTION] = true;