diff --git a/test/vitest-unit-config.test.ts b/test/vitest-unit-config.test.ts
index d0b1fad07a7..92ffd1c37b5 100644
--- a/test/vitest-unit-config.test.ts
+++ b/test/vitest-unit-config.test.ts
@@ -109,4 +109,33 @@ describe("unit vitest config", () => {
       expect.arrayContaining(["src/commands/**", "src/config/**", "src/security/**"]),
     );
   });
+
+  it("keeps bundled unit include files out of the resolved exclude list", () => {
+    const unitConfig = createUnitVitestConfigWithOptions(
+      {},
+      {
+        includePatterns: [
+          "src/infra/matrix-plugin-helper.test.ts",
+          "src/plugin-sdk/facade-runtime.test.ts",
+          "src/plugins/loader.test.ts",
+        ],
+      },
+    );
+
+    expect(unitConfig.test?.include).toEqual([
+      "src/infra/matrix-plugin-helper.test.ts",
+      "src/plugin-sdk/facade-runtime.test.ts",
+      "src/plugins/loader.test.ts",
+    ]);
+    expect(unitConfig.test?.exclude).not.toEqual(
+      expect.arrayContaining([
+        "src/infra/**",
+        "src/plugin-sdk/**",
+        "src/plugins/**",
+        "src/infra/matrix-plugin-helper.test.ts",
+        "src/plugin-sdk/facade-runtime.test.ts",
+        "src/plugins/loader.test.ts",
+      ]),
+    );
+  });
 });
diff --git a/vitest.unit.config.ts b/vitest.unit.config.ts
index 2cf70411714..52c26cb89e5 100644
--- a/vitest.unit.config.ts
+++ b/vitest.unit.config.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { loadPatternListFromEnv, narrowIncludePatternsForCli } from "./vitest.pa
 import { resolveVitestIsolation } from "./vitest.scoped-config.ts";
 import { sharedVitestConfig } from "./vitest.shared.config.ts";
 import {
+  isBundledPluginDependentUnitTestFile,
   unitTestAdditionalExcludePatterns,
   unitTestIncludePatterns,
 } from "./vitest.unit-paths.mjs";
@@ -34,6 +35,15 @@ export function createUnitVitestConfigWithOptions(
   const isolate = resolveVitestIsolation(env);
   const defaultIncludePatterns = options.includePatterns ?? unitTestIncludePatterns;
   const cliIncludePatterns = narrowIncludePatternsForCli(defaultIncludePatterns, options.argv);
+  const protectedIncludeFiles = new Set(
+    defaultIncludePatterns.filter((pattern) => isBundledPluginDependentUnitTestFile(pattern)),
+  );
+  const baseExcludePatterns = unitTestAdditionalExcludePatterns.filter((pattern) => {
+    if (protectedIncludeFiles.size === 0) {
+      return true;
+    }
+    return ![...protectedIncludeFiles].some((file) => pattern === file || pattern.endsWith("/**"));
+  });
   return defineProject({
     ...sharedVitestConfig,
     test: {
@@ -48,7 +58,7 @@ export function createUnitVitestConfigWithOptions(
       exclude: [
         ...new Set([
           ...exclude,
-          ...unitTestAdditionalExcludePatterns,
+          ...baseExcludePatterns,
           ...(options.extraExcludePatterns ?? []),
           ...loadExtraExcludePatternsFromEnv(env),
         ]),