diff --git a/src/build/plugins/externals.ts b/src/build/plugins/externals.ts
index ec56829cc7..9d4903cc23 100644
--- a/src/build/plugins/externals.ts
+++ b/src/build/plugins/externals.ts
@@ -157,6 +157,7 @@ export function externals(opts: ExternalsOptions): Plugin {
         await traceNodeModules([...tracedPaths], {
           ...traceOpts,
           fullTraceInclude: resolved?.fullTraceInclude,
+          traceInclude: resolved?.traceInclude,
           conditions: opts.conditions,
           rootDir: opts.rootDir,
           writePackageJson: true, // deno compat
@@ -227,11 +228,18 @@ export function resolveTraceDeps(
   const fullTraceInclude = [...new Set([...builtinFullTrace, ...userFullTrace])].filter(
     (d) => !negated.has(d)
   );
+  // Named (non-RegExp) deps to force-trace by name. nft cannot statically detect
+  // packages that are loaded dynamically (e.g. native bindings), so they are
+  // resolved and traced explicitly by `traceNodeModules`. This also makes them
+  // work under pnpm, where a nested dependency is not hoisted and only resolves
+  // from the dependent package's real `.pnpm` location.
+  const traceInclude = resolved.filter((d): d is string => typeof d === "string");
   return {
     includePattern: tracePattern
       ? new RegExp(`(?:^|[/\\\\]node_modules[/\\\\])(?:${tracePattern})(?:[/\\\\]|$)`)
       : undefined,
     fullTraceInclude: fullTraceInclude.length > 0 ? fullTraceInclude : undefined,
+    traceInclude: traceInclude.length > 0 ? traceInclude : undefined,
   };
 }
 
diff --git a/test/unit/trace-deps.test.ts b/test/unit/trace-deps.test.ts
index dd79b5937f..71b551208d 100644
--- a/test/unit/trace-deps.test.ts
+++ b/test/unit/trace-deps.test.ts
@@ -40,6 +40,26 @@ describe("resolveTraceDeps", () => {
     expect(result.fullTraceInclude).toContain("prisma");
   });
 
+  it("returns named deps as traceInclude (builtins + user, RegExp excluded)", () => {
+    const result = resolveTraceDeps(["my-pkg", /my-.*-pkg/], defaults);
+    expect(result.traceInclude).toContain("sharp");
+    expect(result.traceInclude).toContain("canvas");
+    expect(result.traceInclude).toContain("my-pkg");
+    // RegExp entries cannot be resolved by name and must be excluded
+    expect(result.traceInclude!.every((d) => typeof d === "string")).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("excludes negated packages from traceInclude", () => {
+    const result = resolveTraceDeps(["!sharp"], defaults);
+    expect(result.traceInclude).not.toContain("sharp");
+    expect(result.traceInclude).toContain("canvas");
+  });
+
+  it("returns undefined traceInclude when all deps are negated", () => {
+    const result = resolveTraceDeps(["!sharp", "!canvas"], defaults);
+    expect(result.traceInclude).toBeUndefined();
+  });
+
   it("throws on bare ! selector", () => {
     expect(() => resolveTraceDeps(["!"], defaults)).toThrow('Invalid traceDeps selector: "!"');
   });