diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e5e6f6f89805..ff86a64b508c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 - Sort `min-*`, `max-*`, and container query variants with decimal values numerically (e.g. `min-[40.25rem]` before `min-[40.5rem]`) ([#20512](https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/pull/20512))
 - Ensure CSS comments ending with `\*/` are closed correctly instead of swallowing the CSS that follows (e.g. `/* C:\temp\*/`) ([#20508](https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/pull/20508))
 - Improve style invalidation performance of `group-*` and `peer-*` variants ([#20513](https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/pull/20513))
+- Ensure cached compilers don't keep `loadModule` and `loadStylesheet` callbacks alive after compilation ([#20531](https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/pull/20531))
 
 ## [4.3.3] - 2026-07-16
 
diff --git a/packages/tailwindcss/src/compat/apply-compat-hooks.ts b/packages/tailwindcss/src/compat/apply-compat-hooks.ts
index 036b9d88ed0a..5cfc29d563b2 100644
--- a/packages/tailwindcss/src/compat/apply-compat-hooks.ts
+++ b/packages/tailwindcss/src/compat/apply-compat-hooks.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,25 @@ import { registerThemeVariantOverrides } from './theme-variants'
 
 const IS_VALID_PREFIX = /^[a-z]+$/
 
+type LoadModule = (
+  path: string,
+  base: string,
+  resourceHint: 'plugin' | 'config',
+) => Promise<{
+  path: string
+  base: string
+  module: any
+}>
+
+type ModulePath = {
+  id: string
+  base: string
+  reference: boolean
+  src: SourceLocation | undefined
+}
+
+type PluginPath = [ModulePath, CssPluginOptions | null]
+
 export async function applyCompatibilityHooks({
   designSystem,
   base,
@@ -28,28 +47,12 @@ export async function applyCompatibilityHooks({
   designSystem: DesignSystem
   base: string
   ast: AstNode[]
-  loadModule: (
-    path: string,
-    base: string,
-    resourceHint: 'plugin' | 'config',
-  ) => Promise<{
-    path: string
-    base: string
-    module: any
-  }>
+  loadModule: LoadModule
   sources: { base: string; pattern: string; negated: boolean }[]
 }) {
   let features = Features.None
-  let pluginPaths: [
-    { id: string; base: string; reference: boolean; src: SourceLocation | undefined },
-    CssPluginOptions | null,
-  ][] = []
-  let configPaths: {
-    id: string
-    base: string
-    reference: boolean
-    src: SourceLocation | undefined
-  }[] = []
+  let pluginPaths: PluginPath[] = []
+  let configPaths: ModulePath[] = []
 
   walk(ast, (node, _ctx) => {
     if (node.kind !== 'at-rule') return
@@ -174,7 +177,27 @@ export async function applyCompatibilityHooks({
   // any additional backwards compatibility hooks.
   if (!pluginPaths.length && !configPaths.length) return Features.None
 
-  let [configs, pluginDetails] = await Promise.all([
+  // Keep loader callbacks out of the scope retained by the theme resolver.
+  let [configs, pluginDetails] = await loadConfigsAndPlugins(loadModule, configPaths, pluginPaths)
+
+  features |= upgradeToFullPluginSupport({
+    designSystem,
+    base,
+    ast,
+    sources,
+    configs,
+    pluginDetails,
+  })
+
+  return features
+}
+
+function loadConfigsAndPlugins(
+  loadModule: LoadModule,
+  configPaths: ModulePath[],
+  pluginPaths: PluginPath[],
+) {
+  return Promise.all([
     Promise.all(
       configPaths.map(async ({ id, base, reference, src }) => {
         let loaded = await loadModule(id, base, 'config')
@@ -201,17 +224,6 @@ export async function applyCompatibilityHooks({
       }),
     ),
   ])
-
-  features |= upgradeToFullPluginSupport({
-    designSystem,
-    base,
-    ast,
-    sources,
-    configs,
-    pluginDetails,
-  })
-
-  return features
 }
 
 function upgradeToFullPluginSupport({
diff --git a/packages/tailwindcss/src/compiler-lifetime.test.ts b/packages/tailwindcss/src/compiler-lifetime.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..63a8905327e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/tailwindcss/src/compiler-lifetime.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+import { setImmediate } from 'node:timers/promises'
+import { setFlagsFromString } from 'node:v8'
+import { runInNewContext } from 'node:vm'
+import { expect, test } from 'vitest'
+import { compile } from './index'
+
+// Expose `gc()` without requiring the `--expose-gc` Node.js flag. The flag is
+// process-wide, so we turn it off again once we have a reference to `gc()`.
+setFlagsFromString('--expose-gc')
+const gc: () => void = runInNewContext('gc')
+setFlagsFromString('--no-expose-gc')
+
+test('compiler releases loader callbacks after compilation', async () => {
+  let plugin = () => {}
+
+  async function createCompiler() {
+    let loadStylesheet = async () => ({
+      path: 'utilities.css',
+      base: '.',
+      content: '@tailwind utilities;',
+    })
+    let loadModule = async () => ({ path: 'plugin.js', base: '.', module: plugin })
+    let callbacks = [new WeakRef(loadStylesheet), new WeakRef(loadModule)]
+    let compiler = await compile('@import "utilities"; @plugin "fixture";', {
+      from: 'input.css',
+      loadStylesheet,
+      loadModule,
+    })
+    return { compiler, callbacks }
+  }
+
+  let { compiler, callbacks } = await createCompiler()
+  await setImmediate()
+  gc()
+
+  expect(callbacks.map((callback) => callback.deref())).toEqual([undefined, undefined])
+  expect(compiler.build(['flex'])).toContain('.flex {')
+})
diff --git a/packages/tailwindcss/src/index.ts b/packages/tailwindcss/src/index.ts
index bc279e624258..b90d8a6e7b43 100644
--- a/packages/tailwindcss/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/tailwindcss/src/index.ts
@@ -747,6 +747,9 @@ export async function compileAst(
     }
   }
 
+  // Avoid retaining loader callbacks, which may keep build tool state alive.
+  let { from, polyfills } = opts
+
   return {
     sources,
     root,
@@ -757,7 +760,7 @@ export async function compileAst(
       }
 
       if (!utilitiesNode) {
-        compiled ??= optimizeAst(ast, designSystem, opts.polyfills)
+        compiled ??= optimizeAst(ast, designSystem, polyfills)
         return compiled
       }
 
@@ -783,7 +786,7 @@ export async function compileAst(
       // If no new candidates were added, we can return the original CSS. This
       // currently assumes that we only add new candidates and never remove any.
       if (!didChange) {
-        compiled ??= optimizeAst(ast, designSystem, opts.polyfills)
+        compiled ??= optimizeAst(ast, designSystem, polyfills)
         return compiled
       }
 
@@ -791,7 +794,7 @@ export async function compileAst(
         onInvalidCandidate,
       }).astNodes
 
-      if (opts.from) {
+      if (from) {
         walk(newNodes, (node) => {
           // We do this conditionally to preserve source locations from both
           // `@utility` and `@custom-variant`. Even though generated nodes are
@@ -805,7 +808,7 @@ export async function compileAst(
       // CSS. This currently assumes that we only add new ast nodes and never
       // remove any.
       if (!didAddExternalVariable && previousAstNodeCount === newNodes.length) {
-        compiled ??= optimizeAst(ast, designSystem, opts.polyfills)
+        compiled ??= optimizeAst(ast, designSystem, polyfills)
         return compiled
       }
 
@@ -813,7 +816,7 @@ export async function compileAst(
 
       utilitiesNode.nodes = newNodes
 
-      compiled = optimizeAst(ast, designSystem, opts.polyfills)
+      compiled = optimizeAst(ast, designSystem, polyfills)
       return compiled
     },
   }
@@ -835,6 +838,7 @@ export async function compile(
   let api = await compileAst(ast, opts)
   let compiledAst = ast
   let compiledCss = css
+  let from = opts.from
 
   return {
     ...api,
@@ -845,7 +849,7 @@ export async function compile(
         return compiledCss
       }
 
-      compiledCss = toCss(newAst, !!opts.from)
+      compiledCss = toCss(newAst, !!from)
       compiledAst = newAst
 
       return compiledCss