diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 29bb63b49c55..47b21eed24d8 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 - Ensure `@plugin` resolves package JavaScript entries instead of browser CSS entries when using `@tailwindcss/vite` ([#19949](https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/pull/19949))
 - Fix relative `@import` and `@plugin` paths resolving from the wrong directory when using `@tailwindcss/vite` ([#19965](https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/pull/19965))
+- Ensure CSS files containing `@variant` are processed by `@tailwindcss/vite` ([#19966](https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/pull/19966))
 
 ## [4.2.4] - 2026-04-21
 
diff --git a/packages/@tailwindcss-vite/src/index.ts b/packages/@tailwindcss-vite/src/index.ts
index c6b2786f7bf1..bf14817f7502 100644
--- a/packages/@tailwindcss-vite/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/@tailwindcss-vite/src/index.ts
@@ -537,7 +537,11 @@ class Root {
     if (
       !(
         this.compiler.features &
-        (Features.AtApply | Features.JsPluginCompat | Features.ThemeFunction | Features.Utilities)
+        (Features.AtApply |
+          Features.JsPluginCompat |
+          Features.ThemeFunction |
+          Features.Utilities |
+          Features.Variants)
       )
     ) {
       return false