diff --git a/.changeset/olive-rabbits-rhyme.md b/.changeset/olive-rabbits-rhyme.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..7720c1ed541e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/olive-rabbits-rhyme.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'astro': patch
+---
+
+Fix content collection build errors for empty collections or underscore files of type `.json`.
diff --git a/packages/astro/src/content/types-generator.ts b/packages/astro/src/content/types-generator.ts
index 0280fc08b672..7958c330feb7 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/content/types-generator.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/content/types-generator.ts
@@ -414,7 +414,11 @@ async function writeContentFiles({
 	for (const collectionKey of Object.keys(collectionEntryMap).sort()) {
 		const collectionConfig = contentConfig?.collections[JSON.parse(collectionKey)];
 		const collection = collectionEntryMap[collectionKey];
-		if (collectionConfig?.type && collection.type !== collectionConfig.type) {
+		if (
+			collectionConfig?.type &&
+			collection.type !== 'unknown' &&
+			collection.type !== collectionConfig.type
+		) {
 			viteServer.ws.send({
 				type: 'error',
 				err: new AstroError({
@@ -433,7 +437,14 @@ async function writeContentFiles({
 			});
 			return;
 		}
-		switch (collection.type) {
+		const resolvedType: 'content' | 'data' =
+			collection.type === 'unknown'
+				? // Add empty / unknown collections to the data type map by default
+				  // This ensures `getCollection('empty-collection')` doesn't raise a type error
+				  collectionConfig?.type ?? 'data'
+				: collection.type;
+
+		switch (resolvedType) {
 			case 'content':
 				contentTypesStr += `${collectionKey}: {\n`;
 				for (const entryKey of Object.keys(collection.entries).sort()) {
@@ -449,9 +460,6 @@ async function writeContentFiles({
 				contentTypesStr += `};\n`;
 				break;
 			case 'data':
-			// Add empty / unknown collections to the data type map by default
-			// This ensures `getCollection('empty-collection')` doesn't raise a type error
-			case 'unknown':
 				dataTypesStr += `${collectionKey}: {\n`;
 				for (const entryKey of Object.keys(collection.entries).sort()) {
 					const dataType = collectionConfig?.schema ? `InferEntrySchema<${collectionKey}>` : 'any';
diff --git a/packages/astro/src/content/vite-plugin-content-virtual-mod.ts b/packages/astro/src/content/vite-plugin-content-virtual-mod.ts
index 78a8cd24d2ee..838d6b425696 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/content/vite-plugin-content-virtual-mod.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/content/vite-plugin-content-virtual-mod.ts
@@ -43,8 +43,12 @@ export function astroContentVirtualModPlugin({
 			new URL('reference-map.json', contentPaths.cacheDir).pathname
 		)
 		.replace('@@CONTENT_DIR@@', relContentDir)
-		.replace('@@CONTENT_ENTRY_GLOB_PATH@@', `${relContentDir}**/*${getExtGlob(contentEntryExts)}`)
-		.replace('@@DATA_ENTRY_GLOB_PATH@@', `${relContentDir}**/*${getExtGlob(dataEntryExts)}`)
+		.replace(
+			'@@CONTENT_ENTRY_GLOB_PATH@@',
+			// [!_] = ignore files starting with "_"
+			`${relContentDir}**/[!_]*${getExtGlob(contentEntryExts)}`
+		)
+		.replace('@@DATA_ENTRY_GLOB_PATH@@', `${relContentDir}**/[!_]*${getExtGlob(dataEntryExts)}`)
 		.replace(
 			'@@RENDER_ENTRY_GLOB_PATH@@',
 			`${relContentDir}**/*${getExtGlob(/** Note: data collections excluded */ contentEntryExts)}`
diff --git a/packages/astro/test/units/dev/collections-mixed-content-errors.test.js b/packages/astro/test/units/dev/collections-mixed-content-errors.test.js
index 355f54a0fc23..d323946f8d5b 100644
--- a/packages/astro/test/units/dev/collections-mixed-content-errors.test.js
+++ b/packages/astro/test/units/dev/collections-mixed-content-errors.test.js
@@ -119,4 +119,32 @@ title: Post
 			expect(e.hint).to.include("Try adding `type: 'data'`");
 		}
 	});
+
+	it('does not raise error for empty collection with config', async () => {
+		const fs = createFsWithFallback(
+			{
+				// Add placeholder to ensure directory exists
+				'/src/content/i18n/_placeholder.txt': 'Need content here',
+				'/src/content/config.ts': `
+					import { z, defineCollection } from 'astro:content';
+					
+					const i18n = defineCollection({
+						type: 'data',
+						schema: z.object({
+							greeting: z.string(),
+						}),
+					});
+							
+					export const collections = { i18n };`,
+			},
+			root
+		);
+
+		try {
+			const res = await sync({ fs });
+			expect(res).to.equal(0);
+		} catch (e) {
+			expect.fail(0, 1, `Did not expect sync to throw: ${e.message}`);
+		}
+	});
 });