diff --git a/code/builders/builder-vite/package.json b/code/builders/builder-vite/package.json
index 556cf6c23ecb..921fba9f5c72 100644
--- a/code/builders/builder-vite/package.json
+++ b/code/builders/builder-vite/package.json
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@
     "@storybook/channels": "workspace:*",
     "@storybook/client-logger": "workspace:*",
     "@storybook/core-common": "workspace:*",
+    "@storybook/core-events": "workspace:*",
     "@storybook/csf-plugin": "workspace:*",
     "@storybook/node-logger": "workspace:*",
     "@storybook/preview": "workspace:*",
diff --git a/code/builders/builder-vite/src/index.ts b/code/builders/builder-vite/src/index.ts
index 9cdac7233d67..3c0b7591d2cf 100644
--- a/code/builders/builder-vite/src/index.ts
+++ b/code/builders/builder-vite/src/index.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import type { RequestHandler } from 'express';
 import type { ViteDevServer } from 'vite';
 import express from 'express';
 import { dirname, join, parse } from 'path';
+import { NoStatsForViteDevError } from '@storybook/core-events/server-errors';
 import type { Options } from '@storybook/types';
 import { transformIframeHtml } from './transform-iframe-html';
 import { createViteServer } from './vite-server';
@@ -68,7 +69,11 @@ export const start: ViteBuilder['start'] = async ({
 
   return {
     bail,
-    stats: { toJson: () => null },
+    stats: {
+      toJson: () => {
+        throw new NoStatsForViteDevError();
+      },
+    },
     totalTime: process.hrtime(startTime),
   };
 };
diff --git a/code/lib/core-events/src/errors/server-errors.ts b/code/lib/core-events/src/errors/server-errors.ts
index a9a9e758d70e..c8eccef6eb2a 100644
--- a/code/lib/core-events/src/errors/server-errors.ts
+++ b/code/lib/core-events/src/errors/server-errors.ts
@@ -576,3 +576,17 @@ export class UpgradeStorybookUnknownCurrentVersionError extends StorybookError {
     `;
   }
 }
+
+export class NoStatsForViteDevError extends StorybookError {
+  readonly category = Category.BUILDER_VITE;
+
+  readonly code = 1;
+
+  template() {
+    return dedent`
+      Unable to write preview stats as the Vite builder does not support stats in dev mode.
+
+      Please remove the \`--stats-json\` flag when running in dev mode.
+    `;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/code/yarn.lock b/code/yarn.lock
index 07c7d2bd6b0e..99e1344e0955 100644
--- a/code/yarn.lock
+++ b/code/yarn.lock
@@ -5334,6 +5334,7 @@ __metadata:
     "@storybook/channels": "workspace:*"
     "@storybook/client-logger": "workspace:*"
     "@storybook/core-common": "workspace:*"
+    "@storybook/core-events": "workspace:*"
     "@storybook/csf-plugin": "workspace:*"
     "@storybook/node-logger": "workspace:*"
     "@storybook/preview": "workspace:*"