diff --git a/packages/nx/src/plugins/js/project-graph/build-dependencies/target-project-locator.spec.ts b/packages/nx/src/plugins/js/project-graph/build-dependencies/target-project-locator.spec.ts
index 14179ccecbe91..11c8d928ff5ad 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/plugins/js/project-graph/build-dependencies/target-project-locator.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/plugins/js/project-graph/build-dependencies/target-project-locator.spec.ts
@@ -595,6 +595,80 @@ describe('TargetProjectLocator', () => {
 
       expect(result).toEqual('child-pm-workspaces');
     });
+
+    it('should convert relative file paths to absolute paths before TypeScript module resolution', () => {
+      const typescriptModule = require('nx/src/plugins/js/utils/typescript');
+      const resolveModuleByImportSpy = jest
+        .spyOn(typescriptModule, 'resolveModuleByImport')
+        .mockReturnValue('/root/libs/proj/some-module.ts');
+
+      // Create a simple locator to test TypeScript resolution path
+      const simpleProjects: Record<string, ProjectGraphProjectNode> = {
+        proj: {
+          name: 'proj',
+          type: 'lib',
+          data: { root: 'libs/proj' },
+        },
+      };
+
+      const testLocator = new TargetProjectLocator(
+        simpleProjects,
+        {},
+        new Map()
+      );
+
+      // Test with a relative path - the method should convert it to absolute
+      // We use a unique package name that won't be found via npm resolution
+      (testLocator as any).resolveImportWithTypescript(
+        'package-that-is-installed-in-workspace-root',
+        'libs/proj/index.ts'
+      );
+
+      // Verify that resolveModuleByImport was called with an absolute path
+      // We only care that the second parameter (filePath) was converted to absolute
+      expect(resolveModuleByImportSpy).toHaveBeenCalled();
+      const [[importExpr, filePath]] = resolveModuleByImportSpy.mock.calls;
+      expect(importExpr).toBe('package-that-is-installed-in-workspace-root');
+      expect(filePath).toBe('/root/libs/proj/index.ts'); // relative path should be converted to absolute
+
+      resolveModuleByImportSpy.mockRestore();
+    });
+
+    it('should keep absolute file paths as-is for TypeScript module resolution', () => {
+      const typescriptModule = require('nx/src/plugins/js/utils/typescript');
+      const resolveModuleByImportSpy = jest
+        .spyOn(typescriptModule, 'resolveModuleByImport')
+        .mockReturnValue('/root/libs/proj/some-module.ts');
+
+      const simpleProjects: Record<string, ProjectGraphProjectNode> = {
+        proj: {
+          name: 'proj',
+          type: 'lib',
+          data: { root: 'libs/proj' },
+        },
+      };
+
+      const testLocator = new TargetProjectLocator(
+        simpleProjects,
+        {},
+        new Map()
+      );
+
+      // Test with an absolute path - it should remain absolute
+      (testLocator as any).resolveImportWithTypescript(
+        'package-that-is-installed-in-workspace-root',
+        '/root/libs/proj/index.ts'
+      );
+
+      // Verify that resolveModuleByImport was called with the same absolute path
+      // We only care that the second parameter (filePath) remained absolute
+      expect(resolveModuleByImportSpy).toHaveBeenCalled();
+      const [[importExpr, filePath]] = resolveModuleByImportSpy.mock.calls;
+      expect(importExpr).toBe('package-that-is-installed-in-workspace-root');
+      expect(filePath).toBe('/root/libs/proj/index.ts');
+
+      resolveModuleByImportSpy.mockRestore();
+    });
   });
 
   describe('findTargetProjectWithImport (without tsconfig.json)', () => {
diff --git a/packages/nx/src/plugins/js/project-graph/build-dependencies/target-project-locator.ts b/packages/nx/src/plugins/js/project-graph/build-dependencies/target-project-locator.ts
index 794f7764df270..1f59c44b6375e 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/plugins/js/project-graph/build-dependencies/target-project-locator.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/plugins/js/project-graph/build-dependencies/target-project-locator.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { isBuiltin } from 'node:module';
-import { dirname, join, posix, relative } from 'node:path';
+import { dirname, join, posix, relative, isAbsolute } from 'node:path';
 import { clean, satisfies } from 'semver';
 import type {
   ProjectGraphExternalNode,
@@ -417,6 +417,11 @@ export class TargetProjectLocator {
     filePath: string
   ): string | undefined {
     let resolvedModule: string;
+    if (!isAbsolute(filePath)) {
+      // Convert to an absolute file path because TypeScript's module resolution won't
+      // properly walk up the directory tree (toward the workspace root) when given a relative path.
+      filePath = this.getAbsolutePath(filePath);
+    }
     const projectName = findProjectForPath(filePath, this.projectRootMappings);
     const cacheScope = projectName
       ? // fall back to the project name if the project root can't be determined