Error: Payload does not support using Turbopack for production builds (Version 3.64.0 -> 3.65.0)

[robertjbass]

Describe the Bug

When building with Turbopack, the payload 3.65.0 build prevents turbopack builds despite the fact that it does work with the correct config

I've proposed a PR to fix this

Link to the code that reproduces this issue

https://github.com/robertjbass/turbopack-build-bug

Reproduction Steps

Look at readme on the reproduction repo. It will reiterate the following:

git clone [email protected]:robertjbass/turbopack-build-bug.git
cd turbopack-build-bug
## Add a .env file with:
# DATABASE_URI=...
# PAYLOAD_SECRET=...

pnpm install
pnpm build

# note the error message:

#  ⨯ Failed to load next.config.mjs, see more info here https://nextjs.org/docs/messages/next-config-error
# > Build error occurred
# Error: Payload does not support using Turbopack for production builds. If you are using Next.js 16, please use `next build --webpack` instead.
#     at <unknown> (next.config.mjs:40:16)

Then downgrade the payload version by doing a find and replace Find: 3.65.0 Replace: 3.64.0

Or replace the package.json with the following:

{
  "name": "turbopack-build-bug",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "A blank template to get started with Payload 3.0",
  "license": "MIT",
  "type": "module",
  "scripts": {
    "build": "cross-env NODE_OPTIONS=--no-deprecation next build",
    "dev": "cross-env NODE_OPTIONS=--no-deprecation next dev",
    "devsafe": "rm -rf .next && cross-env NODE_OPTIONS=--no-deprecation next dev",
    "generate:importmap": "cross-env NODE_OPTIONS=--no-deprecation payload generate:importmap",
    "generate:types": "cross-env NODE_OPTIONS=--no-deprecation payload generate:types",
    "lint": "cross-env NODE_OPTIONS=--no-deprecation next lint",
    "payload": "cross-env NODE_OPTIONS=--no-deprecation payload",
    "start": "cross-env NODE_OPTIONS=--no-deprecation next start",
    "test": "pnpm run test:int && pnpm run test:e2e",
    "test:e2e": "cross-env NODE_OPTIONS=\"--no-deprecation --no-experimental-strip-types\" pnpm exec playwright test",
    "test:int": "cross-env NODE_OPTIONS=--no-deprecation vitest run --config ./vitest.config.mts"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "@aws-sdk/client-s3": "^3.937.0",
    "@payloadcms/db-postgres": "3.65.0",
    "@payloadcms/live-preview-react": "3.65.0",
    "@payloadcms/next": "3.65.0",
    "@payloadcms/payload-cloud": "3.65.0",
    "@payloadcms/richtext-lexical": "3.65.0",
    "@payloadcms/storage-s3": "3.65.0",
    "@payloadcms/ui": "3.65.0",
    "@polar-sh/sdk": "^0.26.1",
    "@splinetool/react-spline": "^4.0.0",
    "@splinetool/runtime": "^1.9.82",
    "algoliasearch": "^5.19.0",
    "canvas-confetti": "^1.9.3",
    "class-variance-authority": "^0.7.0",
    "clsx": "^2.1.1",
    "cross-env": "^7.0.3",
    "framer-motion": "12.23.12",
    "graphql": "^16.8.1",
    "isomorphic-dompurify": "^2.26.0",
    "loops": "^3.4.1",
    "next": "16.0.6",
    "openai": "^6.9.1",
    "payload": "3.65.0",
    "photoswipe": "^5.4.4",
    "pino": "^9.14.0",
    "react": "19.2.0",
    "react-dom": "19.2.0",
    "react-icons": "^5.3.0",
    "react-swipeable": "^7.0.2",
    "sharp": "0.33.4",
    "tailwind-merge": "^2.3.0",
    "thread-stream": "^3.1.0"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "@playwright/test": "1.56.1",
    "@testing-library/react": "16.3.0",
    "@types/node": "^22.5.4",
    "@types/react": "19.1.8",
    "@types/react-dom": "19.1.6",
    "@vitejs/plugin-react": "4.5.2",
    "eslint": "^9.16.0",
    "eslint-config-next": "15.4.7",
    "jsdom": "26.1.0",
    "playwright": "1.56.1",
    "playwright-core": "1.56.1",
    "prettier": "^3.4.2",
    "typescript": "5.7.3",
    "vite-tsconfig-paths": "5.1.4",
    "vitest": "3.2.3"
  },
  "engines": {
    "node": ">=20"
  }
}

Then run:

pnpm install
pnpm build
# It will build without any errors

Which area(s) are affected? (Select all that apply)

Not sure, area: core

Environment Info

pnpm payload info                                         ✔  24   13.7G 

> [email protected] payload /Users/bob/dev/payload-bugs/turbopack-build-bug
> cross-env NODE_OPTIONS=--no-deprecation payload info

npm warn Unknown env config "npm-globalconfig". This will stop working in the next major version of npm.
npm warn Unknown env config "verify-deps-before-run". This will stop working in the next major version of npm.
npm warn Unknown env config "_jsr-registry". This will stop working in the next major version of npm.
! Corepack is about to download https://registry.yarnpkg.com/yarn/-/yarn-1.22.22.tgz

Binaries:
  Node: 24.11.1
  npm: 11.6.2
  Yarn: 1.22.22
  pnpm: 10.23.0
Relevant Packages:
  payload: 3.65.0
  next: 16.0.6
  @payloadcms/db-postgres: 3.65.0
  @payloadcms/drizzle: 3.65.0
  @payloadcms/email-nodemailer: 3.65.0
  @payloadcms/graphql: 3.65.0
  @payloadcms/live-preview: 3.65.0
  @payloadcms/live-preview-react: 3.65.0
  @payloadcms/next/utilities: 3.65.0
  @payloadcms/payload-cloud: 3.65.0
  @payloadcms/plugin-cloud-storage: 3.65.0
  @payloadcms/richtext-lexical: 3.65.0
  @payloadcms/storage-s3: 3.65.0
  @payloadcms/translations: 3.65.0
  @payloadcms/ui/shared: 3.65.0
  react: 19.2.0
  react-dom: 19.2.0
Operating System:
  Platform: darwin
  Arch: arm64
  Version: Darwin Kernel Version 24.6.0: Wed Oct 15 21:12:15 PDT 2025; root:xnu-11417.140.69.703.14~1/RELEASE_ARM64_T6041
  Available memory (MB): 36864
  Available CPU cores: 14

[abass]

Please take a look at this if you can, super disruptive to have this happen 😟

[robertjbass]

I've proposed a PR to fix this

• Our app almost entirely uses SSG with ISR and is very large and data-heavy
• We are willing to have a 22% larger bundle size since our app is entirely SSG for 260% faster builds while being well within the bundle size allowed for Vercel

We would like the option to opt into TurboPack without modifying the TURBOPACK environment variable in Vercel which may have unintended side effects

Our CI/CD pipeline and testing is our most significant bottleneck during development wasting development time while testing builds

This allows us to increase our build times significantly without significantly increasing our Vercel bill

[ziggy-orbital]

Yes please 💃

[MichaelErmer]

everything was working fine with 3.62.0 and next16 now you added this raise condition, for what? 🤯

[robertjbass]

everything was working fine with 3.62.0 and next16 now you added this raise condition, for what? 🤯

I wish it would have at least been listed as a breaking change on the release notes because we were already using Turbopack in production

[rilrom]

If you need access to turbopack build and are not concerned with the bundle size regression, you can do a pnpm patch and implement the changes that were reverted in this PR.

Once the Payload team are ready to re-introduce turbopack build you can remove the patch.

[robertjbass]

That's a good idea. I actually didn't realize how easy that would be to do

[github-actions[bot]]

🚀 This is included in version v3.68.0