diff --git a/examples/express/nitro.config.ts b/examples/express/nitro.config.ts
index d59eb30666..d789aacc10 100644
--- a/examples/express/nitro.config.ts
+++ b/examples/express/nitro.config.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 import { defineNitroConfig } from "nitro/config";
 
 export default defineNitroConfig({
-  serverEntry: { format: "node" },
+  routes: {
+    "/**": { handler: "./server", format: "node" },
+  },
 });
diff --git a/src/build/plugins/routing.ts b/src/build/plugins/routing.ts
index 3faabff8a4..3d737284f9 100644
--- a/src/build/plugins/routing.ts
+++ b/src/build/plugins/routing.ts
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ export function routing(nitro: Nitro) {
 
         return /* js */ `
 import * as __routeRules__ from "nitro/runtime/internal/route-rules";
-${nitro.options.serverEntry?.handler ? `import __serverEntry__ from ${JSON.stringify(nitro.options.serverEntry.handler)};` : ""}
 import * as srvxNode from "srvx/node"
 import * as h3 from "h3";
 
diff --git a/src/config/defaults.ts b/src/config/defaults.ts
index 671c798b4e..918d463579 100644
--- a/src/config/defaults.ts
+++ b/src/config/defaults.ts
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ export const NitroDefaults: NitroConfig = {
   handlers: [],
   devHandlers: [],
   errorHandler: undefined,
+  routes: {},
   routeRules: {},
   prerender: {
     autoSubfolderIndex: true,
diff --git a/src/config/resolvers/paths.ts b/src/config/resolvers/paths.ts
index 539dfb5ff1..0682425fb8 100644
--- a/src/config/resolvers/paths.ts
+++ b/src/config/resolvers/paths.ts
@@ -70,28 +70,16 @@ export async function resolvePathOptions(options: NitroOptions) {
   options.scanDirs = [...new Set(options.scanDirs.map((dir) => dir + "/"))];
 
   // Resolve server entry
-  if (typeof options.serverEntry === "string") {
-    options.serverEntry = { handler: options.serverEntry };
-  }
-  if (options.serverEntry?.handler) {
-    options.serverEntry.handler = resolveModulePath(
-      resolveNitroPath(options.serverEntry.handler, options),
-      {
-        from: options.scanDirs,
-        extensions: RESOLVE_EXTENSIONS,
-      }
-    )!;
-  } else {
-    const defaultServerEntry = resolveModulePath("./server", {
+  if (!options.routes["/**"]?.handler) {
+    const serverEntry = resolveModulePath("./server", {
       from: options.scanDirs,
       extensions: RESOLVE_EXTENSIONS,
       try: true,
     });
-    if (defaultServerEntry) {
-      options.serverEntry ??= {};
-      options.serverEntry.handler = defaultServerEntry;
+    if (serverEntry) {
+      options.routes["/**"] = { handler: serverEntry };
       consola.info(
-        `Using \`${prettyPath(defaultServerEntry)}\` as server entry.`
+        `Using \`${prettyPath(serverEntry)}\` as default route handler.`
       );
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/config/resolvers/route-rules.ts b/src/config/resolvers/route-rules.ts
index 524ac564b3..ea155bac7b 100644
--- a/src/config/resolvers/route-rules.ts
+++ b/src/config/resolvers/route-rules.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-import { defu } from "defu";
 import type {
   NitroConfig,
   NitroOptions,
@@ -8,9 +7,6 @@ import type {
 import { withLeadingSlash } from "ufo";
 
 export async function resolveRouteRulesOptions(options: NitroOptions) {
-  // Backward compatibility for options.routes
-  options.routeRules = defu(options.routeRules, (options as any).routes || {});
-
   options.routeRules = normalizeRouteRules(options);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/routing.ts b/src/routing.ts
index e3ba357fc8..07497951bd 100644
--- a/src/routing.ts
+++ b/src/routing.ts
@@ -38,8 +38,6 @@ export function initNitroRouting(nitro: Nitro) {
     NitroEventHandler & { _importHash: string }
   >();
 
-  const warns: Set<string> = new Set();
-
   const sync = () => {
     // Update route rules
     routeRules._update(
@@ -55,16 +53,12 @@ export function initNitroRouting(nitro: Nitro) {
 
     // Update routes
     const _routes = [
-      ...nitro.scannedHandlers,
+      ...Object.entries(nitro.options.routes).flatMap(([route, handler]) => {
+        return { ...handler, route, middleware: false };
+      }),
       ...nitro.options.handlers,
+      ...nitro.scannedHandlers,
     ].filter((h) => h && !h.middleware && matchesEnv(h));
-    if (nitro.options.serverEntry?.handler) {
-      _routes.unshift({
-        route: "/**",
-        handler: nitro.options.serverEntry.handler,
-        format: nitro.options.serverEntry.format,
-      });
-    }
     if (nitro.options.renderer?.entry) {
       _routes.push({
         route: "/**",
diff --git a/src/types/config.ts b/src/types/config.ts
index 91a48cf406..7cfe8698a7 100644
--- a/src/types/config.ts
+++ b/src/types/config.ts
@@ -183,12 +183,16 @@ export interface NitroOptions extends PresetOptions {
   // Routing
   baseURL: string;
   apiBaseURL: string;
-  serverEntry: { handler?: string; format?: EventHandlerFormat } | undefined;
+
+  routes: Record<string, Omit<NitroEventHandler, "route" | "middleware">>;
   handlers: NitroEventHandler[];
-  routeRules: { [path: string]: NitroRouteRules };
   devHandlers: NitroDevEventHandler[];
+
+  routeRules: { [path: string]: NitroRouteRules };
+
   errorHandler: string | string[];
   devErrorHandler: NitroErrorHandler;
+
   prerender: {
     /**
      * Prerender HTML routes within subfolders (`/test` would produce `/test/index.html`)
@@ -270,7 +274,6 @@ export interface NitroConfig
       Omit<
         NitroOptions,
         | "routeRules"
-        | "serverEntry"
         | "rollupConfig"
         | "preset"
         | "compatibilityDate"
@@ -286,7 +289,6 @@ export interface NitroConfig
   rollupConfig?: Partial<RollupConfig>;
   compatibilityDate?: CompatibilityDateSpec;
   unenv?: UnenvPreset | UnenvPreset[];
-  serverEntry?: string | NitroOptions["serverEntry"];
 }
 
 // ------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/test/minimal/minimal.test.ts b/test/minimal/minimal.test.ts
index ee0d772c3a..98ed28a9a5 100644
--- a/test/minimal/minimal.test.ts
+++ b/test/minimal/minimal.test.ts
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ describe("minimal fixture", () => {
         it("bundle size", async () => {
           const { sizeKB } = await analyzeDir(outDir);
           const expectedSize = bundleSizes[builder][minify ? 1 : 0];
-          // expect(Math.round(sizeKB)).toBe(expectedSize);
+          expect(Math.round(sizeKB)).toBe(expectedSize);
 
           results.push({
             builder: builder + (minify ? " (minified)" : ""),