"browser" field does not behave the same as such for "context"

[stevenvachon]

🐛 bug report

🎛 Configuration (.babelrc, package.json, cli command)

This works:

{
  "targets": {
    "index": {
      "context": "browser",
      "distDir": "dist",
      "source": "src/index.mjs"
    }
  }
}

This does not:

{
  "source": "src/index.mjs",
  "browser": "dist/index.js"
}

🤔 Expected Behavior

I'd expect the two to be the same.

😯 Current Behavior

The output file does not include any imported modules. At runtime, the bundle throws:

Uncaught ReferenceError: require is not defined

💁 Possible Solution

🔦 Context

💻 Code Sample

🌍 Your Environment

Software	Version(s)
Parcel	2.13.3
Node	22.14.0
npm/Yarn	10.9.2
Operating System	macOS 15.3.1