diff --git a/.changeset/loud-laws-poke.md b/.changeset/loud-laws-poke.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a45c133e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/loud-laws-poke.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+'@vanilla-extract/esbuild-plugin-next': patch
+'@vanilla-extract/esbuild-plugin': patch
+---
+
+Make `esbuild` an optional peer dependency
diff --git a/packages/esbuild-plugin-next/package.json b/packages/esbuild-plugin-next/package.json
index 005568cad..8c482f9c2 100644
--- a/packages/esbuild-plugin-next/package.json
+++ b/packages/esbuild-plugin-next/package.json
@@ -18,6 +18,14 @@
   "dependencies": {
     "@vanilla-extract/integration": "^6.0.2"
   },
+  "peerDependencies": {
+    "esbuild": ">=0.17.6"
+  },
+  "peerDependenciesMeta": {
+    "esbuild": {
+      "optional": true
+    }
+  },
   "devDependencies": {
     "esbuild": "0.17.6"
   }
diff --git a/packages/esbuild-plugin/package.json b/packages/esbuild-plugin/package.json
index 5787bd729..c6dfe1dfe 100644
--- a/packages/esbuild-plugin/package.json
+++ b/packages/esbuild-plugin/package.json
@@ -17,6 +17,14 @@
   "dependencies": {
     "@vanilla-extract/integration": "^6.2.0"
   },
+  "peerDependencies": {
+    "esbuild": ">=0.17.6"
+  },
+  "peerDependenciesMeta": {
+    "esbuild": {
+      "optional": true
+    }
+  },
   "devDependencies": {
     "esbuild": "0.17.6"
   }