diff --git a/packages/plugin-react/README.md b/packages/plugin-react/README.md
index 5e5fbc497..4c66419dd 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-react/README.md
+++ b/packages/plugin-react/README.md
@@ -46,6 +46,14 @@ Control where the JSX factory is imported from. Default to `'react'`
 react({ jsxImportSource: '@emotion/react' })
 ```
 
+## jsxRuntime
+
+By default, the plugin uses the [automatic JSX runtime](https://legacy.reactjs.org/blog/2020/09/22/introducing-the-new-jsx-transform.html). However, if you encounter any issues, you may opt out using the `jsxRuntime` option.
+
+```js
+react({ jsxRuntime: 'classic' })
+```
+
 ### babel
 
 The `babel` option lets you add plugins, presets, and [other configuration](https://babeljs.io/docs/en/options) to the Babel transformation performed on each included file.
diff --git a/packages/plugin-react/package.json b/packages/plugin-react/package.json
index 19f0f7175..919f42a46 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-react/package.json
+++ b/packages/plugin-react/package.json
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@
     "@babel/core": "^7.21.4",
     "@babel/plugin-transform-react-jsx-self": "^7.21.0",
     "@babel/plugin-transform-react-jsx-source": "^7.19.6",
-    "magic-string": "^0.30.0",
     "react-refresh": "^0.14.0"
   },
   "peerDependencies": {
diff --git a/packages/plugin-react/src/index.ts b/packages/plugin-react/src/index.ts
index 1643d3ea7..9022dfd02 100644
--- a/packages/plugin-react/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/plugin-react/src/index.ts
@@ -8,8 +8,6 @@ import type {
   ResolvedConfig,
   UserConfig,
 } from 'vite'
-import MagicString from 'magic-string'
-import type { SourceMap } from 'magic-string'
 import {
   addRefreshWrapper,
   preambleCode,
@@ -20,18 +18,17 @@ import {
 export interface Options {
   include?: string | RegExp | Array<string | RegExp>
   exclude?: string | RegExp | Array<string | RegExp>
-  /**
-   * @deprecated All tools now support the automatic runtime, and it has been backported
-   * up to React 16. This allows to skip the React import and can produce smaller bundlers.
-   * @default "automatic"
-   */
-  jsxRuntime?: 'classic' | 'automatic'
   /**
    * Control where the JSX factory is imported from.
    * https://esbuild.github.io/api/#jsx-import-source
    * @default 'react'
    */
   jsxImportSource?: string
+  /**
+   * Note: Skipping React import with classic runtime is not supported from v4
+   * @default "automatic"
+   */
+  jsxRuntime?: 'classic' | 'automatic'
   /**
    * Babel configuration applied in both dev and prod.
    */
@@ -82,7 +79,6 @@ declare module 'vite' {
   }
 }
 
-const prependReactImportCode = "import React from 'react'; "
 const refreshContentRE = /\$Refresh(?:Reg|Sig)\$\(/
 const defaultIncludeRE = /\.[tj]sx?$/
 const tsRE = /\.tsx?$/
@@ -92,7 +88,6 @@ export default function viteReact(opts: Options = {}): PluginOption[] {
   let devBase = '/'
   const filter = createFilter(opts.include ?? defaultIncludeRE, opts.exclude)
   const devRuntime = `${opts.jsxImportSource ?? 'react'}/jsx-dev-runtime`
-  let needHiresSourcemap = false
   let isProduction = true
   let projectRoot = process.cwd()
   let skipFastRefresh = false
@@ -105,7 +100,7 @@ export default function viteReact(opts: Options = {}): PluginOption[] {
   // - import * as React from 'react';
   // - import React from 'react';
   // - import React, {useEffect} from 'react';
-  const importReactRE = /(?:^|\n)import\s+(?:\*\s+as\s+)?React(?:,|\s+)/
+  const importReactRE = /(?:^|\s)import\s+(?:\*\s+as\s+)?React(?:,|\s+)/
 
   const viteBabel: Plugin = {
     name: 'vite:react-babel',
@@ -129,16 +124,9 @@ export default function viteReact(opts: Options = {}): PluginOption[] {
     configResolved(config) {
       devBase = config.base
       projectRoot = config.root
-      needHiresSourcemap =
-        config.command === 'build' && !!config.build.sourcemap
       isProduction = config.isProduction
       skipFastRefresh = isProduction || config.command === 'build'
 
-      if (opts.jsxRuntime === 'classic') {
-        config.logger.warnOnce(
-          '[@vitejs/plugin-react] Support for classic runtime is deprecated.',
-        )
-      }
       if ('jsxPure' in opts) {
         config.logger.warnOnce(
           '[@vitejs/plugin-react] jsxPure was removed. You can configure esbuild.jsxSideEffects directly.',
@@ -191,7 +179,6 @@ export default function viteReact(opts: Options = {}): PluginOption[] {
         ])
       }
 
-      let prependReactImport = false
       if (opts.jsxRuntime === 'classic' && isJSX) {
         if (!isProduction) {
           // These development plugins are only needed for the classic runtime.
@@ -200,24 +187,6 @@ export default function viteReact(opts: Options = {}): PluginOption[] {
             await loadPlugin('@babel/plugin-transform-react-jsx-source'),
           )
         }
-
-        // Even if the automatic JSX runtime is not used, we can still
-        // inject the React import for .jsx and .tsx modules.
-        if (!importReactRE.test(code)) {
-          prependReactImport = true
-        }
-      }
-
-      let inputMap: SourceMap | undefined
-      if (prependReactImport) {
-        if (needHiresSourcemap) {
-          const s = new MagicString(code)
-          s.prepend(prependReactImportCode)
-          code = s.toString()
-          inputMap = s.generateMap({ hires: true, source: id })
-        } else {
-          code = prependReactImportCode + code
-        }
       }
 
       // Avoid parsing if no special transformation is needed
@@ -226,7 +195,7 @@ export default function viteReact(opts: Options = {}): PluginOption[] {
         !babelOptions.configFile &&
         !babelOptions.babelrc
       ) {
-        return { code, map: inputMap ?? null }
+        return
       }
 
       const parserPlugins = [...babelOptions.parserOpts.plugins]
@@ -256,8 +225,6 @@ export default function viteReact(opts: Options = {}): PluginOption[] {
         },
         plugins,
         sourceMaps: true,
-        // Vite handles sourcemap flattening
-        inputSourceMap: inputMap ?? (false as any),
       })
 
       if (result) {
diff --git a/playground/react-classic/App.jsx b/playground/react-classic/App.jsx
index 1de7461b1..94326dc5f 100644
--- a/playground/react-classic/App.jsx
+++ b/playground/react-classic/App.jsx
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { useState } from 'react'
+import React, { useState } from 'react'
 
 function App() {
   const [count, setCount] = useState(0)
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
index 1fe22b34b..93cdc422d 100644
--- a/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -63,13 +63,11 @@ importers:
       '@babel/core': ^7.21.4
       '@babel/plugin-transform-react-jsx-self': ^7.21.0
       '@babel/plugin-transform-react-jsx-source': ^7.19.6
-      magic-string: ^0.30.0
       react-refresh: ^0.14.0
     dependencies:
       '@babel/core': 7.21.4
       '@babel/plugin-transform-react-jsx-self': 7.21.0_@babel+core@7.21.4
       '@babel/plugin-transform-react-jsx-source': 7.19.6_@babel+core@7.21.4
-      magic-string: 0.30.0
       react-refresh: 0.14.0
 
   playground:
@@ -4120,6 +4118,7 @@ packages:
     engines: {node: '>=12'}
     dependencies:
       '@jridgewell/sourcemap-codec': 1.4.14
+    dev: true
 
   /map-obj/1.0.1:
     resolution: {integrity: sha512-7N/q3lyZ+LVCp7PzuxrJr4KMbBE2hW7BT7YNia330OFxIf4d3r5zVpicP2650l7CPN6RM9zOJRl3NGpqSiw3Eg==}