diff --git a/packages/angular/build/src/tools/esbuild/stylesheets/stylesheet-plugin-factory.ts b/packages/angular/build/src/tools/esbuild/stylesheets/stylesheet-plugin-factory.ts
index 8c021d8e8e6a..fdf8d969bd87 100644
--- a/packages/angular/build/src/tools/esbuild/stylesheets/stylesheet-plugin-factory.ts
+++ b/packages/angular/build/src/tools/esbuild/stylesheets/stylesheet-plugin-factory.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import type { OnLoadResult, Plugin, PluginBuild } from 'esbuild';
 import glob from 'fast-glob';
 import assert from 'node:assert';
 import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
-import { extname } from 'node:path';
+import { extname, isAbsolute } from 'node:path';
 import type { PostcssConfiguration } from '../../../utils/postcss-configuration';
 import { LoadResultCache, createCachedLoad } from '../load-result-cache';
 
@@ -167,6 +167,12 @@ export class StylesheetPluginFactory {
         build.onLoad(
           { filter: language.fileFilter },
           createCachedLoad(cache, async (args) => {
+            if (!isAbsolute(args.path)) {
+              // The file being requested might be using the HTTP protocol.
+              // Example: `@import url(https://fonts.googleapis.com/earlyaccess/notokufiarabic.css);`
+              return null;
+            }
+
             const data = await readFile(args.path, 'utf-8');
 
             return processStylesheet(
diff --git a/tests/legacy-cli/e2e/tests/build/styles/tailwind-v3.ts b/tests/legacy-cli/e2e/tests/build/styles/tailwind-v3.ts
index 0dbb42f1025e..aa47808d8203 100644
--- a/tests/legacy-cli/e2e/tests/build/styles/tailwind-v3.ts
+++ b/tests/legacy-cli/e2e/tests/build/styles/tailwind-v3.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,14 @@ export default async function () {
   await writeFile('src/app/app.component.css', '@tailwind base; @tailwind components;');
 
   // Add Tailwind directives to a global style
-  await writeFile('src/styles.css', '@tailwind base; @tailwind components;');
+  await writeFile(
+    'src/styles.css',
+    `
+      @import url(https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Roboto:400);
+      @tailwind base;
+      @tailwind components;
+    `,
+  );
 
   // Ensure installation warning is present
   const { stderr } = await ng('build', '--configuration=development');