diff --git a/.changeset/odd-bottles-drop.md b/.changeset/odd-bottles-drop.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..1737672eb698
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/odd-bottles-drop.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@sveltejs/kit': patch
+---
+
+[chore] trigger sync and other setup from plugin
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/core/dev/index.js b/packages/kit/src/core/dev/index.js
index 2afd4151e055..734f626f55ee 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/core/dev/index.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/core/dev/index.js
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import { deep_merge } from '../../utils/object.js';
 import { load_config, print_config_conflicts } from '../config/index.js';
 import { get_aliases, get_runtime_path } from '../utils.js';
 import { create_plugin } from './plugin.js';
-import * as sync from '../sync/sync.js';
 
 const cwd = process.cwd();
 
@@ -23,8 +22,6 @@ export async function dev({ port, host, https }) {
 	/** @type {import('types').ValidatedConfig} */
 	const config = await load_config();
 
-	sync.init(config);
-
 	const [vite_config] = deep_merge(
 		{
 			server: {
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/core/dev/plugin.js b/packages/kit/src/core/dev/plugin.js
index 3c9b4d4202d4..8140511caf67 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/core/dev/plugin.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/core/dev/plugin.js
@@ -24,19 +24,21 @@ const cwd = process.cwd();
  * @returns {Promise<import('vite').Plugin>}
  */
 export async function create_plugin(config) {
-	const runtime = get_runtime_path(config);
-
-	process.env.VITE_SVELTEKIT_APP_VERSION_POLL_INTERVAL = '0';
-
-	/** @type {import('types').Respond} */
-	const respond = (await import(`${runtime}/server/index.js`)).respond;
-
 	return {
 		name: 'vite-plugin-svelte-kit',
 
-		configureServer(vite) {
+		async configureServer(vite) {
 			installPolyfills();
 
+			sync.init(config);
+
+			const runtime = get_runtime_path(config);
+
+			process.env.VITE_SVELTEKIT_APP_VERSION_POLL_INTERVAL = '0';
+
+			/** @type {import('types').Respond} */
+			const respond = (await import(`${runtime}/server/index.js`)).respond;
+
 			/** @type {import('types').SSRManifest} */
 			let manifest;