diff --git a/.changeset/prerender-root-data-rr8.md b/.changeset/prerender-root-data-rr8.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5ce786fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/prerender-root-data-rr8.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'rsbuild-plugin-react-router': patch
+---
+
+Fix prerendering a root route with a loader on React Router 8 by requesting `/_.data` instead of the legacy `/_root.data` path, which React Router 8 handlers no longer recognize.
diff --git a/src/prerender-build.ts b/src/prerender-build.ts
index 8348a367..885935d4 100644
--- a/src/prerender-build.ts
+++ b/src/prerender-build.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { existsSync } from 'node:fs';
 import { mkdir, writeFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
+import { createRequire } from 'node:module';
 import fsExtra from 'fs-extra';
 import * as Effect from 'effect/Effect';
 import type { RsbuildPluginAPI } from '@rsbuild/core';
@@ -7,7 +8,7 @@ import { matchRoutes } from 'react-router';
 import { dirname, relative, resolve } from 'pathe';
 import { PLUGIN_NAME, SPA_FALLBACK_HTML_FILE } from './constants.js';
 import { getBuildManifest } from './build-manifest.js';
-import { escapeHtml } from './plugin-utils.js';
+import { escapeHtml, getPackageVersion } from './plugin-utils.js';
 import {
   createReactRouterManifestOptions,
   generateReactRouterManifestForDev,
@@ -23,15 +24,18 @@ import {
   getSsrFalsePrerenderExportErrors,
   normalizePrerenderMatchPath,
 } from './prerender.js';
-import type {
-  Config,
-  ResolvedReactRouterConfig,
+import {
+  getDefaultTrailingSlashAwareDataRequests,
+  type Config,
+  type ResolvedReactRouterConfig,
 } from './react-router-config.js';
 import { startServerBuildWorker } from './server-build-worker-client.js';
 import type { ServerBuildDescription } from './server-build-worker-protocol.js';
 import type { PluginOptions, Route } from './types.js';
 import { runPluginEffect, tryPluginPromise } from './effect-runtime.js';
 
+const requireFromPlugin = createRequire(import.meta.url);
+
 type PrerenderBuildApi = Pick<
   RsbuildPluginAPI,
   'logger' | 'getNormalizedConfig'
@@ -150,6 +154,7 @@ const prerenderDataEffect = ({
   clientBuildDir,
   basename,
   trailingSlashAwareDataRequests,
+  legacyRootDataRequest,
   api,
   requestInit,
 }: {
@@ -159,6 +164,7 @@ const prerenderDataEffect = ({
   clientBuildDir: string;
   basename: string;
   trailingSlashAwareDataRequests: boolean;
+  legacyRootDataRequest: boolean;
   api: PrerenderBuildApi;
   requestInit?: RequestInit;
 }) => {
@@ -166,10 +172,13 @@ const prerenderDataEffect = ({
     prerenderPath,
     trailingSlashAwareDataRequests
   );
-  // The handler always serves the root route's data at /_root.data, even when
-  // trailing-slash-aware naming writes the root output to /_.data.
+  // React Router 7 handlers serve root data only at /_root.data, even when
+  // trailing-slash-aware naming writes the output to /_.data. React Router 8
+  // handlers only understand /_.data.
   const dataRequestPath =
-    trailingSlashAwareDataRequests && prerenderPath === '/'
+    legacyRootDataRequest &&
+    trailingSlashAwareDataRequests &&
+    prerenderPath === '/'
       ? '/_root.data'
       : dataOutputPath;
   const normalizedPath = `${basename}${dataRequestPath}`.replace(/\/\/+/g, '/');
@@ -442,6 +451,7 @@ const createPrerenderPathEffect = ({
   buildRoutes,
   requestHandler,
   clientBuildDir,
+  legacyRootDataRequest,
   options,
 }: {
   path: string;
@@ -449,6 +459,7 @@ const createPrerenderPathEffect = ({
   buildRoutes: ReturnType<typeof createPrerenderRoutes>;
   requestHandler: (request: Request) => Promise<Response>;
   clientBuildDir: string;
+  legacyRootDataRequest: boolean;
   options: RunReactRouterPrerenderBuildOptions;
 }): Effect.Effect<void, Error, never> =>
   Effect.gen(function* () {
@@ -474,6 +485,7 @@ const createPrerenderPathEffect = ({
           basename,
           trailingSlashAwareDataRequests:
             future.unstable_trailingSlashAwareDataRequests,
+          legacyRootDataRequest,
           api,
         });
         yield* prerenderResourceRouteEffect({
@@ -509,6 +521,7 @@ const createPrerenderPathEffect = ({
           basename,
           trailingSlashAwareDataRequests:
             future.unstable_trailingSlashAwareDataRequests,
+          legacyRootDataRequest,
           api,
         })
       : undefined;
@@ -631,6 +644,12 @@ export const runReactRouterPrerenderBuild = async (
         }
 
         const buildRoutes = createPrerenderRoutes(build.routes);
+        // The worker's request handler uses the react-router this plugin resolves.
+        const legacyRootDataRequest = !getDefaultTrailingSlashAwareDataRequests(
+          getPackageVersion('react-router', specifier =>
+            requireFromPlugin.resolve(specifier)
+          )
+        );
         await runPluginEffect(
           createBoundedPrerenderTasksEffect(
             prerenderPaths,
@@ -642,6 +661,7 @@ export const runReactRouterPrerenderBuild = async (
                 buildRoutes,
                 requestHandler,
                 clientBuildDir,
+                legacyRootDataRequest,
                 options,
               })
           )
diff --git a/tests/prerender-build.test.ts b/tests/prerender-build.test.ts
index ea42fcb9..b87d0292 100644
--- a/tests/prerender-build.test.ts
+++ b/tests/prerender-build.test.ts
@@ -3,12 +3,18 @@ import { tmpdir } from 'node:os';
 import { resolve } from 'node:path';
 import { createLogger } from '@rsbuild/core';
 import { expect, it, rstest } from '@rstest/core';
+import { getPackageVersion } from '../src/plugin-utils';
+import * as actualPluginUtils from '../src/plugin-utils' with { rstest: 'importActual' };
 import { runReactRouterPrerenderBuild } from '../src/prerender-build';
 import { startServerBuildWorker } from '../src/server-build-worker-client';
 
 rstest.mock('../src/server-build-worker-client', () => ({
   startServerBuildWorker: rstest.fn(),
 }));
+rstest.mock('../src/plugin-utils', () => ({
+  ...actualPluginUtils,
+  getPackageVersion: rstest.fn(),
+}));
 
 it('writes escaped classic redirects without consuming their body and releases the request', async () => {
   const buildDirectory = await mkdtemp(
@@ -85,3 +91,72 @@ it('writes escaped classic redirects without consuming their body and releases t
     await rm(buildDirectory, { recursive: true, force: true });
   }
 });
+
+it.each([
+  ['8.4.0', '/_.data'],
+  ['7.18.0', '/_root.data'],
+])(
+  'requests root data the way React Router %s handlers expect',
+  async (version, expectedRequestPath) => {
+    const buildDirectory = await mkdtemp(
+      resolve(tmpdir(), 'rsbuild-prerender-root-data-')
+    );
+    rstest.mocked(getPackageVersion).mockReturnValueOnce(version);
+    const routes = {
+      root: { id: 'root', path: '', file: 'root.tsx' },
+    };
+    const requestPaths: string[] = [];
+    rstest.mocked(startServerBuildWorker).mockResolvedValueOnce({
+      description: {
+        routes: {
+          root: {
+            ...routes.root,
+            module: { default: true, ErrorBoundary: false, loader: true },
+          },
+        },
+        assets: { routes: { root: { hasLoader: true } } },
+      },
+      handler: async request => {
+        const { pathname } = new URL(request.url);
+        requestPaths.push(pathname);
+        return new Response(pathname.endsWith('.data') ? 'data' : '<html>', {
+          status: 200,
+        });
+      },
+      close: async () => {},
+    });
+    try {
+      await runReactRouterPrerenderBuild({
+        api: {
+          logger: createLogger({ level: 'silent' }),
+          getNormalizedConfig: () => ({}) as never,
+        },
+        hasWebEnvironment: true,
+        buildDirectory,
+        ssr: true,
+        isPrerenderEnabled: true,
+        prerenderConfig: ['/'],
+        prerenderPaths: ['/'],
+        basename: '/',
+        future: { unstable_trailingSlashAwareDataRequests: true } as never,
+        routes,
+        latestBrowserManifest: null,
+        latestBrowserManifestModuleExports: {},
+        clientStats: undefined,
+        pluginOptions: {},
+        appDirectory: buildDirectory,
+        assetPrefix: '/',
+        routeChunkOptions: undefined,
+        buildManifest: { routes },
+        buildEndReactRouterConfig: {} as never,
+        buildEnd: undefined,
+      });
+      expect(requestPaths).toContain(expectedRequestPath);
+      expect(
+        await readFile(resolve(buildDirectory, 'client/_.data'), 'utf8')
+      ).toBe('data');
+    } finally {
+      await rm(buildDirectory, { recursive: true, force: true });
+    }
+  }
+);