diff --git a/.eslint-plugin-local/code-no-static-node-module-import.ts b/.eslint-plugin-local/code-no-static-node-module-import.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..674e5f9e6eb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.eslint-plugin-local/code-no-static-node-module-import.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+/*---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ *  Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
+ *  Licensed under the MIT License. See License.txt in the project root for license information.
+ *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
+
+import { TSESTree } from '@typescript-eslint/typescript-estree';
+import * as eslint from 'eslint';
+import { builtinModules } from 'module';
+import { join, normalize, relative } from 'path';
+import minimatch from 'minimatch';
+import { createImportRuleListener } from './utils.ts';
+
+const nodeBuiltins = new Set([
+	...builtinModules,
+	...builtinModules.map(m => `node:${m}`)
+]);
+
+const REPO_ROOT = normalize(join(import.meta.dirname, '../'));
+
+export default new class implements eslint.Rule.RuleModule {
+
+	readonly meta: eslint.Rule.RuleMetaData = {
+		messages: {
+			staticImport: 'Static imports of \'{{module}}\' are not allowed here because they are loaded synchronously on startup. Use a dynamic `await import(...)` or `import type` instead.'
+		},
+		docs: {
+			description: 'Disallow static imports of node_modules packages to prevent synchronous loading on startup. Allows Node.js built-ins, electron, relative imports, and whitelisted file paths.'
+		},
+		schema: {
+			type: 'array',
+			items: {
+				type: 'string'
+			}
+		}
+	};
+
+	create(context: eslint.Rule.RuleContext): eslint.Rule.RuleListener {
+		const allowedPaths = context.options as string[];
+		const filePath = normalize(relative(REPO_ROOT, normalize(context.getFilename()))).replace(/\\/g, '/');
+
+		// Skip whitelisted files
+		if (allowedPaths.some(pattern => filePath === pattern || minimatch(filePath, pattern))) {
+			return {};
+		}
+
+		return createImportRuleListener((node, value) => {
+			// Allow `import type` and `export type` declarations
+			if (node.parent?.type === TSESTree.AST_NODE_TYPES.ImportDeclaration && node.parent.importKind === 'type') {
+				return;
+			}
+			if (node.parent && 'exportKind' in node.parent && node.parent.exportKind === 'type') {
+				return;
+			}
+
+			// Allow relative imports
+			if (value.startsWith('.')) {
+				return;
+			}
+
+			// Allow Node.js built-in modules
+			if (nodeBuiltins.has(value)) {
+				return;
+			}
+
+			// Allow electron
+			if (value === 'electron') {
+				return;
+			}
+
+			context.report({
+				loc: node.parent!.loc,
+				messageId: 'staticImport',
+				data: {
+					module: value
+				}
+			});
+		});
+	}
+};
diff --git a/eslint.config.js b/eslint.config.js
index 955fe0033bd..ff390f5c4b2 100644
--- a/eslint.config.js
+++ b/eslint.config.js
@@ -1042,6 +1042,33 @@ export default tseslint.config(
 			]
 		}
 	},
+	// electron-main layer: prevent static imports of heavy node_modules
+	// that would be synchronously loaded on startup
+	{
+		files: [
+			'src/vs/code/electron-main/**/*.ts',
+			'src/vs/code/node/**/*.ts',
+			'src/vs/platform/*/electron-main/**/*.ts',
+			'src/vs/platform/*/node/**/*.ts',
+		],
+		languageOptions: {
+			parser: tseslint.parser,
+		},
+		plugins: {
+			'local': pluginLocal,
+		},
+		rules: {
+			'local/code-no-static-node-module-import': [
+				'error',
+				// Files that run in separate processes, not on the electron-main startup path
+				'src/vs/platform/agentHost/node/copilot/**/*.ts',
+				'src/vs/platform/files/node/watcher/**/*.ts',
+				'src/vs/platform/terminal/node/**/*.ts',
+				// Files that use small, safe modules
+				'src/vs/platform/environment/node/argv.ts',
+			]
+		}
+	},
 	// browser/electron-browser layer
 	{
 		files: [