diff --git a/build/gulpfile.vscode.js b/build/gulpfile.vscode.js
index 049b25f2be8..750db5e5b75 100644
--- a/build/gulpfile.vscode.js
+++ b/build/gulpfile.vscode.js
@@ -361,16 +361,14 @@ function packageTask(platform, arch, sourceFolderName, destinationFolderName, op
 		const productionDependencies = getProductionDependencies(root);
 		const dependenciesSrc = productionDependencies.map(d => path.relative(root, d.path)).map(d => [`${d}/**`, `!${d}/**/{test,tests}/**`, `!**/*.mk`]).flat();
 
-		let deps = gulp.src(dependenciesSrc, { base: '.', dot: true })
+		const deps = gulp.src(dependenciesSrc, { base: '.', dot: true })
 			.pipe(filter(['**', `!**/${config.version}/**`, '!**/bin/darwin-arm64-87/**', '!**/package-lock.json', '!**/yarn.lock', '!**/*.js.map']))
 			.pipe(util.cleanNodeModules(path.join(__dirname, '.moduleignore')))
 			.pipe(util.cleanNodeModules(path.join(__dirname, `.moduleignore.${process.platform}`)))
 			.pipe(jsFilter)
 			.pipe(util.rewriteSourceMappingURL(sourceMappingURLBase))
-			.pipe(jsFilter.restore);
-
-		if (isAMD()) { // TODO@esm: ASAR disabled in ESM
-			deps = deps.pipe(createAsar(path.join(process.cwd(), 'node_modules'), [
+			.pipe(jsFilter.restore)
+			.pipe(createAsar(path.join(process.cwd(), 'node_modules'), [
 				'**/*.node',
 				'**/@vscode/ripgrep/bin/*',
 				'**/node-pty/build/Release/*',
@@ -379,10 +377,12 @@ function packageTask(platform, arch, sourceFolderName, destinationFolderName, op
 				'**/node-pty/lib/shared/conout.js',
 				'**/*.wasm',
 				'**/@vscode/vsce-sign/bin/*',
-			], [
+			], isAMD()) ? [
 				'**/*.mk',
-			], 'node_modules.asar'));
-		}
+			] : [
+				'**/*.mk',
+				'!node_modules/vsda/**' // stay compatible with extensions that depend on us shipping `vsda` into ASAR
+			], 'node_modules.asar');
 
 		let all = es.merge(
 			packageJsonStream,