diff --git a/config/build-plugins/preload-sandbox-builtin-guard.test.ts b/config/build-plugins/preload-sandbox-builtin-guard.test.ts
index baf64146e2a..d05c59d7c62 100644
--- a/config/build-plugins/preload-sandbox-builtin-guard.test.ts
+++ b/config/build-plugins/preload-sandbox-builtin-guard.test.ts
@@ -110,6 +110,71 @@ describe('preload sandbox guard detection', () => {
   })
 })
 
+// Why: the case above only covers identifier prefixes, a quoted *static import statement* off
+// statement position, and member-access `require`. None of them exercise call syntax inside a
+// literal, so the guard used to fail the build on comments and ordinary strings.
+describe('preload sandbox guard lexical masking', () => {
+  it('ignores a module call quoted inside a string literal', () => {
+    expect(findPreloadSandboxViolations(`const help = "Call require('fs')"`)).toEqual([])
+  })
+
+  it('ignores a module call in a line comment, which survives an unminified chunk', () => {
+    expect(findPreloadSandboxViolations("// use require('fs')\nexport {}")).toEqual([])
+  })
+
+  it('ignores a module call in a block comment', () => {
+    expect(findPreloadSandboxViolations("/* see require('fs')\n   and import('path') */")).toEqual(
+      []
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('ignores a module call inside a template literal', () => {
+    expect(findPreloadSandboxViolations('const t = `see import("path") here`')).toEqual([])
+  })
+
+  it('ignores a fake require after an escaped quote, which naive masking would end early', () => {
+    expect(findPreloadSandboxViolations('const s = "a\\"require(\'fs\')\\"b"')).toEqual([])
+  })
+
+  it('still flags a real request inside a template interpolation', () => {
+    expect(findPreloadSandboxViolations('const t = `${require("fs")}`')).toEqual([
+      { kind: 'node-builtin', detail: 'fs' }
+    ])
+  })
+
+  it('still flags a real request nested in an interpolated object literal', () => {
+    expect(findPreloadSandboxViolations('const t = `${({ a: require("net") }).a}` + "x"')).toEqual([
+      { kind: 'node-builtin', detail: 'net' }
+    ])
+  })
+
+  it('still flags a real request on the line after a comment', () => {
+    expect(findPreloadSandboxViolations('// hi\nconst x = require("node:os")')).toEqual([
+      { kind: 'node-builtin', detail: 'node:os' }
+    ])
+  })
+
+  // Why: same line on purpose — an unterminated string already stops at a newline, so only a
+  // same-line regex can swallow the request that follows it.
+  it('still flags a real request after a regex holding an unpaired quote', () => {
+    expect(findPreloadSandboxViolations('const q = /["]/; const x = require("node:zlib")')).toEqual(
+      [{ kind: 'node-builtin', detail: 'node:zlib' }]
+    )
+  })
+
+  it('still flags a real request after a division, which is not a regex', () => {
+    expect(findPreloadSandboxViolations('const r = t / 2; const x = require("node:dns")')).toEqual([
+      { kind: 'node-builtin', detail: 'node:dns' }
+    ])
+  })
+
+  it('still flags a real static import that follows a quoted decoy', () => {
+    expect(findPreloadSandboxViolations('const d = "require(\'fs\')";\nimport "node:tty"')).toEqual(
+      [{ kind: 'node-builtin', detail: 'node:tty' }]
+    )
+  })
+})
+
 describe('preload sandbox guard assertions', () => {
   it('names every offending specifier and the supported surface', () => {
     expect(() =>
diff --git a/config/build-plugins/preload-sandbox-builtin-guard.ts b/config/build-plugins/preload-sandbox-builtin-guard.ts
index fb75756af71..e191cf16cc6 100644
--- a/config/build-plugins/preload-sandbox-builtin-guard.ts
+++ b/config/build-plugins/preload-sandbox-builtin-guard.ts
@@ -63,19 +63,123 @@ function collect(
   }
 }
 
+/** A NUL can never appear in real source, so a masked offset is unambiguous. */
+const MASKED = '\u0000'
+
+/**
+ * Marks every comment and string-literal character, preserving offsets, so a match can be tested
+ * for whether it sits in code or in data. Interpolations stay code: `${require('fs')}` is real.
+ */
+function maskLexicalSpans(code: string): string {
+  const chars = code.split('')
+  const mask = (from: number, to: number): void => {
+    for (let at = from; at < Math.min(to, chars.length); at += 1) {
+      chars[at] = MASKED
+    }
+  }
+  const interpolations: number[] = [] // brace depth inside each enclosing `${}`
+  let inTemplate = false
+  // A `/` here starts a regex, not a division; anything else makes it an operator.
+  let regexAllowed = true
+  let index = 0
+  while (index < code.length) {
+    const char = code[index]
+    const pair = code.slice(index, index + 2)
+    if (inTemplate) {
+      if (char === '`') {
+        inTemplate = false
+        regexAllowed = false
+        index += 1
+      } else if (pair === '${') {
+        interpolations.push(0)
+        inTemplate = false
+        index += 2
+      } else {
+        const width = char === '\\' ? 2 : 1
+        mask(index, index + width)
+        index += width
+      }
+      continue
+    }
+    if (pair === '//' || pair === '/*') {
+      const close = pair === '//' ? code.indexOf('\n', index) : code.indexOf('*/', index + 2)
+      const end = close === -1 ? code.length : pair === '//' ? close : close + 2
+      mask(index, end)
+      index = end
+      continue
+    }
+    if (char === "'" || char === '"') {
+      let scan = index + 1
+      // A raw newline ends an unterminated literal; nothing after it is still that string.
+      while (scan < code.length && code[scan] !== char && code[scan] !== '\n') {
+        scan += code[scan] === '\\' ? 2 : 1
+      }
+      mask(index, scan + 1)
+      index = scan + 1
+      regexAllowed = false
+      continue
+    }
+    // Why: an unpaired quote inside a regex would otherwise open a string over real code.
+    if (char === '/' && regexAllowed) {
+      let scan = index + 1
+      let inClass = false
+      while (scan < code.length && code[scan] !== '\n' && (inClass || code[scan] !== '/')) {
+        if (code[scan] === '\\') {
+          scan += 1
+        } else if (code[scan] === '[' || code[scan] === ']') {
+          inClass = code[scan] === '['
+        }
+        scan += 1
+      }
+      mask(index, scan + 1)
+      index = scan + 1
+      regexAllowed = false
+      continue
+    }
+    if (!/\s/.test(char)) {
+      regexAllowed = !/[\w$)\]]/.test(char)
+    }
+    if (char === '`') {
+      inTemplate = true
+    } else if (interpolations.length > 0 && (char === '{' || char === '}')) {
+      const last = interpolations.length - 1
+      if (char === '{') {
+        interpolations[last] += 1
+      } else if (interpolations[last] > 0) {
+        interpolations[last] -= 1
+      } else {
+        interpolations.pop()
+        inTemplate = true
+      }
+    }
+    index += 1
+  }
+  return chars.join('')
+}
+
 export function findPreloadSandboxViolations(code: string): PreloadSandboxViolation[] {
   const violations = new Map<string, PreloadSandboxViolation>()
+  // Why: the patterns still run on real source, so specifiers survive; the mask only vetoes
+  // matches whose module keyword is inside a comment or string.
+  const masked = maskLexicalSpans(code)
+  const isData = (match: RegExpExecArray | RegExpMatchArray): boolean => {
+    const keyword = Math.max(match[0].search(/import|export|require/), 0)
+    return masked[(match.index ?? 0) + keyword] === MASKED
+  }
   for (const pattern of [LITERAL_MODULE_CALL_RE, STATIC_MODULE_SOURCE_RE]) {
     pattern.lastIndex = 0
     for (const match of code.matchAll(pattern)) {
       const specifier = match[2]
-      if (specifier !== undefined) {
+      if (specifier !== undefined && !isData(match)) {
         collect(violations, classifySpecifier(specifier))
       }
     }
   }
   NONLITERAL_MODULE_CALL_RE.lastIndex = 0
   for (const match of code.matchAll(NONLITERAL_MODULE_CALL_RE)) {
+    if (isData(match)) {
+      continue
+    }
     collect(violations, {
       kind: 'nonliteral-module-request',
       detail: code