diff --git a/apps/site/mdx/plugins.mjs b/apps/site/mdx/plugins.mjs
index f6b33cd5416ae..02166643aaf26 100644
--- a/apps/site/mdx/plugins.mjs
+++ b/apps/site/mdx/plugins.mjs
@@ -15,6 +15,20 @@ import remarkTableTitles from '../util/table';
 // Reference: https://github.com/nodejs/nodejs.org/pull/7896#issuecomment-3009480615
 const OPEN_NEXT_CLOUDFLARE = 'Cloudflare' in global;
 
+// Shiki is created out here to avoid an async rehype plugin
+const singletonShiki = await rehypeShikiji({
+  // We use the faster WASM engine on the server instead of the web-optimized version.
+  //
+  // Currently we fall back to the JavaScript RegEx engine
+  // on Cloudflare workers because `shiki/wasm` requires loading via
+  // `WebAssembly.instantiate` with custom imports, which Cloudflare doesn't support
+  // for security reasons.
+  wasm: !OPEN_NEXT_CLOUDFLARE,
+
+  // TODO(@avivkeller): Find a way to enable Twoslash w/ a VFS on Cloudflare
+  twoslash: !OPEN_NEXT_CLOUDFLARE,
+});
+
 /**
  * Provides all our Rehype Plugins that are used within MDX
  */
@@ -25,21 +39,7 @@ export const rehypePlugins = [
   [rehypeAutolinkHeadings, { behavior: 'wrap' }],
   // Transforms sequential code elements into code tabs and
   // adds our syntax highlighter (Shikiji) to Codeboxes
-  [
-    rehypeShikiji,
-    {
-      // We use the faster WASM engine on the server instead of the web-optimized version.
-      //
-      // Currently we fall back to the JavaScript RegEx engine
-      // on Cloudflare workers because `shiki/wasm` requires loading via
-      // `WebAssembly.instantiate` with custom imports, which Cloudflare doesn't support
-      // for security reasons.
-      wasm: !OPEN_NEXT_CLOUDFLARE,
-
-      // TODO(@avivkeller): Find a way to enable Twoslash w/ a VFS on Cloudflare
-      twoslash: !OPEN_NEXT_CLOUDFLARE,
-    },
-  ],
+  () => singletonShiki,
 ];
 
 /**
diff --git a/packages/rehype-shiki/package.json b/packages/rehype-shiki/package.json
index 2355532fc4e07..a9be231d9e108 100644
--- a/packages/rehype-shiki/package.json
+++ b/packages/rehype-shiki/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@node-core/rehype-shiki",
-  "version": "1.2.0",
+  "version": "1.3.0",
   "type": "module",
   "exports": {
     ".": "./src/index.mjs",
diff --git a/packages/rehype-shiki/src/__tests__/plugin.test.mjs b/packages/rehype-shiki/src/__tests__/plugin.test.mjs
index 17fe2def9e6a3..c6e5b6d6f5713 100644
--- a/packages/rehype-shiki/src/__tests__/plugin.test.mjs
+++ b/packages/rehype-shiki/src/__tests__/plugin.test.mjs
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ describe('rehypeShikiji', async () => {
 
   it('calls visit twice', async () => {
     mockVisit.mock.resetCalls();
-    await rehypeShikiji()(mockTree);
+    (await rehypeShikiji())(mockTree);
     assert.strictEqual(mockVisit.mock.calls.length, 2);
   });
 
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ describe('rehypeShikiji', async () => {
       }
     });
 
-    await rehypeShikiji()(mockTree);
+    (await rehypeShikiji())(mockTree);
     assert.ok(parent.children.some(child => child.tagName === 'CodeTabs'));
   });
 });
diff --git a/packages/rehype-shiki/src/highlighter.mjs b/packages/rehype-shiki/src/highlighter.mjs
index b8159c8501c50..15b57f00fc5e7 100644
--- a/packages/rehype-shiki/src/highlighter.mjs
+++ b/packages/rehype-shiki/src/highlighter.mjs
@@ -18,12 +18,20 @@ export const getLanguageByName = (language, langs) => {
   );
 };
 
+/**
+ * @typedef {Object} SyntaxHighlighter
+ * @property {import('@shikijs/core').HighlighterCoreSync} shiki - The underlying shiki core instance.
+ * @property {(code: string, lang: string, meta?: Record<string, any>) => string} highlightToHtml - Highlights code and returns inner HTML of the <code> tag.
+ * @property {(code: string, lang: string, meta?: Record<string, any>) => any} highlightToHast - Highlights code and returns a HAST tree.
+ */
+
 /**
  * Factory function to create a syntax highlighter instance with utility methods.
  *
  * @param {Object} params - Parameters for highlighter creation.
  * @param {import('@shikijs/core').HighlighterCoreOptions} [params.coreOptions] - Core options for the highlighter.
  * @param {import('@shikijs/core').CodeToHastOptions} [params.highlighterOptions] - Additional options for highlighting.
+ * @returns {SyntaxHighlighter}
  */
 const createHighlighter = ({ coreOptions = {}, highlighterOptions = {} }) => {
   const options = {
diff --git a/packages/rehype-shiki/src/index.mjs b/packages/rehype-shiki/src/index.mjs
index 1a5e1cfcdd131..3b0a951c3d542 100644
--- a/packages/rehype-shiki/src/index.mjs
+++ b/packages/rehype-shiki/src/index.mjs
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@ import createHighlighter, { getLanguageByName } from './highlighter.mjs';
  * @property {boolean} [wasm=false] - Enable WebAssembly for the regex engine
  * @property {boolean} [twoslash=false] - Enable twoslash
  * @property {import('@shikijs/twoslash').TransformerTwoslashIndexOptions} [twoslashOptions] - Twoslash configuration options
- * @param {import('@shikijs/core').HighlighterCoreOptions} [coreOptions] - Core options for the highlighter.
- * @param {import('@shikijs/core').CodeToHastOptions} [highlighterOptions] - Additional options for highlighting.
+ * @property {import('@shikijs/core').HighlighterCoreOptions} [coreOptions] - Core options for the highlighter.
+ * @property {import('@shikijs/core').CodeToHastOptions} [highlighterOptions] - Additional options for highlighting.
  */
 
 /**
diff --git a/packages/rehype-shiki/src/plugin.mjs b/packages/rehype-shiki/src/plugin.mjs
index 2bc93a327153b..b0b5a741a83d4 100644
--- a/packages/rehype-shiki/src/plugin.mjs
+++ b/packages/rehype-shiki/src/plugin.mjs
@@ -54,14 +54,13 @@ function isCodeBlock(node) {
 }
 
 /**
- * @param {import('./index.mjs').HighlighterOptions} options
+ * @param {import('./index.mjs').HighlighterOptions & { highlighter: import('./highlighter.mjs').SyntaxHighlighter }} options
  */
-export default function rehypeShikiji(options) {
-  let highlighter;
-
-  return async function (tree) {
-    highlighter ??= await createHighlighter(options);
+export default async function rehypeShikiji(options) {
+  const highlighter =
+    options?.highlighter ?? (await createHighlighter(options));
 
+  return function (tree) {
     visit(tree, 'element', (_, index, parent) => {
       const languages = [];
       const displayNames = [];