diff --git a/packages/next/build/index.ts b/packages/next/build/index.ts
index 1dfcc11c75300ef3a03e78c3f8e9225cedd15e62..f7b50fbe346568748d4c9b86d257ed35e2950a33 100644
--- a/packages/next/build/index.ts
+++ b/packages/next/build/index.ts
@@ -511,22 +511,28 @@ export default async function build(
     const webpackBuildStart = process.hrtime()
 
     let result: CompilerResult = { warnings: [], errors: [] }
-    // TODO: why do we need this?? https://github.com/vercel/next.js/issues/8253
-    if (isLikeServerless) {
-      const clientResult = await runCompiler(clientConfig)
-      // Fail build if clientResult contains errors
-      if (clientResult.errors.length > 0) {
-        result = {
-          warnings: [...clientResult.warnings],
-          errors: [...clientResult.errors],
-        }
-      } else {
-        const serverResult = await runCompiler(configs[1])
-        result = {
-          warnings: [...clientResult.warnings, ...serverResult.warnings],
-          errors: [...clientResult.errors, ...serverResult.errors],
-        }
-      }
+    // We run client and server compilation separately when configured for
+    // memory constraint and for serverless to be able to load manifests
+    // produced in the client build
+    if (isLikeServerless || config.experimental.serialWebpackBuild) {
+      await nextBuildSpan
+        .traceChild('run-webpack-compiler')
+        .traceAsyncFn(async () => {
+          const clientResult = await runCompiler(clientConfig)
+          // Fail build if clientResult contains errors
+          if (clientResult.errors.length > 0) {
+            result = {
+              warnings: [...clientResult.warnings],
+              errors: [...clientResult.errors],
+            }
+          } else {
+            const serverResult = await runCompiler(configs[1])
+            result = {
+              warnings: [...clientResult.warnings, ...serverResult.warnings],
+              errors: [...clientResult.errors, ...serverResult.errors],
+            }
+          }
+        })
     } else {
       result = await nextBuildSpan
         .traceChild('run-webpack-compiler')
diff --git a/packages/next/next-server/server/config-shared.ts b/packages/next/next-server/server/config-shared.ts
index 196973e5709bbeb13db43faaf17f0928427132f3..a7776ce1d1b4bd00edd77393b4e305a8d55246f8 100644
--- a/packages/next/next-server/server/config-shared.ts
+++ b/packages/next/next-server/server/config-shared.ts
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ export const defaultConfig: NextConfig = {
     scriptLoader: false,
     stats: false,
     externalDir: false,
+    serialWebpackBuild: false,
   },
   future: {
     strictPostcssConfiguration: false,
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 9e6c1dd9cd922229a25aa899b2cc01fc5875f430..f38329f61bf22924dab7cbb3d563b1d89328f50d 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -4730,7 +4730,7 @@ caniuse-api@^3.0.0:
     lodash.memoize "^4.1.2"
     lodash.uniq "^4.5.0"
 
-caniuse-lite@^1.0.0, caniuse-lite@^1.0.30000981, caniuse-lite@^1.0.30001020, caniuse-lite@^1.0.30001093, caniuse-lite@^1.0.30001165, caniuse-lite@^1.0.30001173, caniuse-lite@^1.0.30001179:
+caniuse-lite@1.0.30001179, caniuse-lite@^1.0.0, caniuse-lite@^1.0.30000981, caniuse-lite@^1.0.30001020, caniuse-lite@^1.0.30001093, caniuse-lite@^1.0.30001165, caniuse-lite@^1.0.30001173, caniuse-lite@^1.0.30001179:
   version "1.0.30001179"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/caniuse-lite/-/caniuse-lite-1.0.30001179.tgz#b0803883b4471a6c62066fb1752756f8afc699c8"
   integrity sha512-blMmO0QQujuUWZKyVrD1msR4WNDAqb/UPO1Sw2WWsQ7deoM5bJiicKnWJ1Y0NS/aGINSnKPIWBMw5luX+NDUCA==