diff --git a/packages/angular/build/src/tools/esbuild/javascript-transformer-worker.ts b/packages/angular/build/src/tools/esbuild/javascript-transformer-worker.ts
index 603ca375df22..74ff839ffdab 100644
--- a/packages/angular/build/src/tools/esbuild/javascript-transformer-worker.ts
+++ b/packages/angular/build/src/tools/esbuild/javascript-transformer-worker.ts
@@ -39,14 +39,6 @@ const textDecoder = new TextDecoder();
 const textEncoder = new TextEncoder();
 const SOURCEMAP_COMMENT_BYTES = Buffer.from('//# sourceMappingURL=');
 
-/**
- * The function name prefix for all Angular partial compilation functions.
- * Used to determine if linking of a JavaScript file is required.
- * If any additional declarations are added or otherwise changed in the linker,
- * the names MUST begin with this prefix.
- */
-const LINKER_DECLARATION_PREFIX = 'ɵɵngDeclare';
-
 async function instrumentCoverage(
   filename: string,
   data: string,
@@ -188,7 +180,7 @@ async function transformJavaScriptImpl(
   data: string,
   options: TransformOptions,
 ): Promise<string> {
-  const shouldLink = !options.skipLinker && requiresLinking(filename, data);
+  const shouldLink = !options.skipLinker;
   const useInputSourcemap =
     options.sourcemap &&
     (!!options.thirdPartySourcemaps || !/[\\/]node_modules[\\/]/.test(filename));
@@ -294,16 +286,3 @@ async function transformJavaScriptImpl(
   // Strip sourcemaps if they should not be used
   return options.isAlreadyStripped ? code : removeSourceMappingURL(code);
 }
-
-function requiresLinking(path: string, source: string): boolean {
-  // @angular/core and @angular/compiler will cause false positives
-  // Also, TypeScript files do not require linking
-  if (/[\\/]@angular[\\/](?:compiler|core)|\.tsx?$/.test(path)) {
-    return false;
-  }
-
-  // Check if the source code includes one of the declaration functions.
-  // There is a low chance of a false positive but the names are fairly unique
-  // and the result would be an unnecessary no-op additional plugin pass.
-  return source.includes(LINKER_DECLARATION_PREFIX);
-}
diff --git a/packages/angular/build/src/tools/esbuild/javascript-transformer.ts b/packages/angular/build/src/tools/esbuild/javascript-transformer.ts
index 32a0b2b8d07d..489c6ca8af8b 100644
--- a/packages/angular/build/src/tools/esbuild/javascript-transformer.ts
+++ b/packages/angular/build/src/tools/esbuild/javascript-transformer.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,33 @@ import { WorkerPool, WorkerPoolOptions } from '../../utils/worker-pool';
 import { Cache } from './cache';
 
 const SOURCEMAP_COMMENT_BYTES = Buffer.from('sourceMappingURL=');
+const LINKER_DECLARATION_PREFIX = 'ɵɵngDeclare';
+const LINKER_DECLARATION_PREFIX_BYTES = Buffer.from(LINKER_DECLARATION_PREFIX, 'utf-8');
+
+/**
+ * Determines whether JavaScript code requires Angular linker processing.
+ *
+ * @param path The full path to the file.
+ * @param data The data (string or Buffer) of the file.
+ * @returns True if the code contains an Angular partial declaration; otherwise false.
+ */
+function requiresLinking(path: string, data: string | Uint8Array): boolean {
+  // @angular/core and @angular/compiler will cause false positives
+  // Also, TypeScript files do not require linking
+  if (/[\\/]@angular[\\/](?:compiler|core)[\\/]|\.[cm]?tsx?$/.test(path)) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  if (typeof data === 'string') {
+    return data.includes(LINKER_DECLARATION_PREFIX);
+  }
+
+  const dataBuffer = Buffer.isBuffer(data)
+    ? data
+    : Buffer.from(data.buffer, data.byteOffset, data.byteLength);
+
+  return dataBuffer.includes(LINKER_DECLARATION_PREFIX_BYTES);
+}
 
 /**
  * Transformation options that should apply to all transformed files and data.
@@ -190,9 +217,11 @@ export class JavaScriptTransformer {
     sideEffects?: boolean,
     instrumentForCoverage?: boolean,
   ): Promise<Uint8Array> {
+    const shouldLink = !skipLinker && requiresLinking(filename, data);
+
     // Perform a quick test to determine if the data needs any transformations.
     // This allows directly returning the data without the worker communication overhead.
-    if (skipLinker && !this.#commonOptions.advancedOptimizations && !instrumentForCoverage) {
+    if (!shouldLink && !this.#commonOptions.advancedOptimizations && !instrumentForCoverage) {
       const keepSourcemap =
         this.#commonOptions.sourcemap &&
         (!!this.#commonOptions.thirdPartySourcemaps || !/[\\/]node_modules[\\/]/.test(filename));
@@ -235,7 +264,7 @@ export class JavaScriptTransformer {
       {
         filename,
         data,
-        skipLinker,
+        skipLinker: !shouldLink,
         sideEffects,
         instrumentForCoverage,
         ...this.#commonOptions,
diff --git a/packages/angular/build/src/tools/esbuild/javascript-transformer_spec.ts b/packages/angular/build/src/tools/esbuild/javascript-transformer_spec.ts
index 5cf7383ab7d0..b1cdeec07b44 100644
--- a/packages/angular/build/src/tools/esbuild/javascript-transformer_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/angular/build/src/tools/esbuild/javascript-transformer_spec.ts
@@ -291,4 +291,87 @@ describe('JavaScriptTransformer sourcemaps', () => {
 
     expect(result).toBe(inputBuffer);
   });
+
+  it('should return Uint8Array untouched when skipLinker is false but file contains no linker declarations', async () => {
+    transformer = new JavaScriptTransformer(
+      {
+        sourcemap: false,
+      },
+      1,
+    );
+
+    const inputBuffer = Buffer.from('console.log("no linking required");\nconst x = 1;', 'utf-8');
+    const result = await transformer.transformData(
+      'node_modules/my-lib/lib.js',
+      inputBuffer,
+      false, // skipLinker: false
+    );
+
+    expect(result).toBe(inputBuffer);
+  });
+
+  it('should bypass worker and skip linking for @angular/core and @angular/compiler paths', async () => {
+    transformer = new JavaScriptTransformer(
+      {
+        sourcemap: false,
+      },
+      1,
+    );
+
+    const inputBuffer = Buffer.from('export const ɵɵngDeclareDirective = () => {};', 'utf-8');
+    const result = await transformer.transformData(
+      'node_modules/@angular/core/fesm2022/core.mjs',
+      inputBuffer,
+      false,
+    );
+
+    expect(result).toBe(inputBuffer);
+  });
+
+  it('should bypass worker and skip linking for TypeScript file extensions (.ts, .tsx, .mts, .cts)', async () => {
+    transformer = new JavaScriptTransformer(
+      {
+        sourcemap: false,
+      },
+      1,
+    );
+
+    const inputBuffer = Buffer.from('export const ɵɵngDeclareDirective = () => {};', 'utf-8');
+
+    for (const ext of ['.ts', '.tsx', '.mts', '.cts']) {
+      const result = await transformer.transformData(`src/app/directive${ext}`, inputBuffer, false);
+
+      expect(result).toBe(inputBuffer);
+    }
+  });
+
+  it('should not exclude packages with similar prefixes such as @angular/compiler-cli', async () => {
+    transformer = new JavaScriptTransformer(
+      {
+        sourcemap: false,
+      },
+      1,
+    );
+
+    const input = `
+      import * as i0 from "@angular/core";
+      export class MyDirective {}
+      MyDirective.ɵdir = i0.ɵɵngDeclareDirective({
+        minVersion: "12.0.0",
+        version: "14.0.0",
+        ngImport: i0,
+        type: MyDirective,
+        selector: "[my-dir]"
+      });
+    `;
+
+    const result = await transformer.transformData(
+      'node_modules/@angular/compiler-cli/test.js',
+      input,
+      false,
+    );
+    const text = Buffer.from(result).toString('utf-8');
+
+    expect(text).not.toContain('i0.ɵɵngDeclareDirective');
+  });
 });