diff --git a/.changeset/tasty-dingos-breathe.md b/.changeset/tasty-dingos-breathe.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..24982895b213
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/tasty-dingos-breathe.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@sveltejs/kit': patch
+---
+
+fix: enable CSRF protection in builds with a non-production `NODE_ENV` value
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/runtime/app/server/remote/prerender.js b/packages/kit/src/runtime/app/server/remote/prerender.js
index 0391c084da55..d775f3ab5de6 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/runtime/app/server/remote/prerender.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/runtime/app/server/remote/prerender.js
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 /** @import { RemotePrerenderInputsGenerator, RemotePrerenderInternals, MaybePromise } from 'types' */
 /** @import { StandardSchemaV1 } from '@standard-schema/spec' */
 import { json, error } from '@sveltejs/kit';
-import { DEV } from 'esm-env';
 import { get_request_store } from '@sveltejs/kit/internal/server';
 import { stringify, stringify_remote_arg } from '../../../shared.js';
 import { noop } from '../../../../utils/functions.js';
@@ -99,7 +98,7 @@ export function prerender(validate_or_fn, fn_or_options, maybe_options) {
 			const id = __.id;
 			const url = `${base}/${app_dir}/remote/${id}${payload ? `/${payload}` : ''}`;
 
-			if (!state.prerendering && !DEV && !event.isRemoteRequest) {
+			if (!state.prerendering && !__SVELTEKIT_DEV__ && !event.isRemoteRequest) {
 				try {
 					// TODO adapters can provide prerendered data more efficiently than
 					// fetching from the public internet
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/runtime/server/respond.js b/packages/kit/src/runtime/server/respond.js
index f73a8a156473..b323f560fce0 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/runtime/server/respond.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/runtime/server/respond.js
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ export async function internal_respond(request, options, manifest, state) {
 	const is_data_request = has_data_suffix(url.pathname);
 	const remote_id = get_remote_id(url);
 
-	if (!DEV) {
+	if (!__SVELTEKIT_DEV__) {
 		const request_origin = request.headers.get('origin');
 
 		if (remote_id) {
diff --git a/packages/kit/test/apps/options-2/test/test.js b/packages/kit/test/apps/options-2/test/test.js
index 3ea959f035d3..f627e9adb682 100644
--- a/packages/kit/test/apps/options-2/test/test.js
+++ b/packages/kit/test/apps/options-2/test/test.js
@@ -165,6 +165,24 @@ test.describe("bundleStrategy: 'single'", () => {
 	});
 });
 
+test.describe('CSRF', () => {
+	test('blocks cross-origin form submissions when custom NODE_ENV is set', async ({ baseURL }) => {
+		test.skip(!!process.env.DEV);
+
+		const res = await fetch(`${baseURL}/basepath`, {
+			method: 'POST',
+			headers: {
+				'content-type': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded',
+				origin: 'https://evil.example'
+			},
+			body: 'foo=bar'
+		});
+
+		expect(res.status).toBe(403);
+		expect(await res.text()).toBe('Cross-site POST form submissions are forbidden');
+	});
+});
+
 test.describe('Vite', () => {
 	// regression test for https://github.com/sveltejs/kit/issues/13249:
 	// user `define`s referenced at the top level of hooks.client.js must be