vercel/next.js · error · Error

Specified images.loaderFile does not exist at

Error message

Specified images.loaderFile does not exist at "${absolutePath}".

What it means

Images config validation in assignDefaultsAndValidate: images.loaderFile is set, and after resolving it against the project dir the file does not exist on disk at the computed absolutePath. A custom loader module that cannot be loaded would break the image optimizer at runtime, so validation fails at config load time.

Solutions

1. Point images.loaderFile at an existing file path.

When it happens

Trigger: images.loaderFile points to a file that does not exist.

Common situations: A wrong path in images.loaderFile in next.config.

AI-assisted analysis of vercel/next.js@34433fd12e (2026-08-19). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e7552e75cce05463. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at packages/next/src/server/config.ts:867

    // Append trailing slash for non-default loaders and when trailingSlash is set
    if (
      images.path &&
      !images.path.endsWith('/') &&
      (images.loader !== 'default' || result.trailingSlash)
    ) {
      images.path += '/'
    }

    if (images.loaderFile) {
      if (images.loader !== 'default' && images.loader !== 'custom') {
        throw new Error(
          `Specified images.loader property (${images.loader}) cannot be used with images.loaderFile property. Please set images.loader to "custom".`
        )
      }
      const absolutePath = join(dir, images.loaderFile)
      if (!existsSync(absolutePath)) {
        throw new Error(
          `Specified images.loaderFile does not exist at "${absolutePath}".`
        )
      }
      images.loaderFile = absolutePath
    }
  }

  warnCustomizedOption(
    result,
    'experimental.esmExternals',
    true,
    'experimental.esmExternals is not recommended to be modified as it may disrupt module resolution',
    configFileName,
    silent
  )

  warnOptionHasBeenMovedOutOfExperimental(
    result,

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