diff --git a/docs/migrations/migrate-from-v4.md b/docs/migrations/migrate-from-v4.md
index f41a5ea13f..d4181d0d3a 100644
--- a/docs/migrations/migrate-from-v4.md
+++ b/docs/migrations/migrate-from-v4.md
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ No longer supports generating project with `node-sass`. It has been [deprecated]
 
 #### Underlying Loaders and Plugins
 
-* `html-webpack-plugin` is upgraded from v3 to v4, see more details in the [release announcement](https://dev.to/jantimon/html-webpack-plugin-4-has-been-released-125d).
+* `html-webpack-plugin` is upgraded from v3 to v5, and for webpack 4 users, v4 will be used. More details are available in the [release announcement of `html-webpack-plugin` v4](https://dev.to/jantimon/html-webpack-plugin-4-has-been-released-125d) and the [full changelog](https://github.com/jantimon/html-webpack-plugin/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md).
 * `sass-loader` v7 support is dropped. See the v8 breaking changes at its [changelog](https://github.com/webpack-contrib/sass-loader/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md#800-2019-08-29).
 * `postcss-loader` is upgraded from v3 to v4. Most notably, `PostCSS` options (`plugin` / `syntax` / `parser` / `stringifier`) are moved into the `postcssOptions` field. More details available at the [changelog](https://github.com/webpack-contrib/postcss-loader/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md#400-2020-09-07).
 * `copy-webpack-plugin` is upgraded from v5 to v6. If you never customized its config through `config.plugin('copy')`, there should be no user-facing breaking changes. A full list of breaking changes is available at [`copy-webpack-plugin` v6.0.0 release](https://github.com/webpack-contrib/copy-webpack-plugin/releases/tag/v6.0.0).
diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-babel/index.js b/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-babel/index.js
index 1b1df4824e..d42039c46d 100644
--- a/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-babel/index.js
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-babel/index.js
@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ module.exports = (api, options) => {
         .test(/\.m?jsx?$/)
         .exclude
           .add(filepath => {
+            // With data URI support in webpack 5, filepath could be undefined
+            if (!filepath) {
+              return true
+            }
+
             // always transpile js in vue files
             if (/\.vue\.jsx?$/.test(filepath)) {
               return false
diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-pwa/package.json b/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-pwa/package.json
index d79b5b1e09..0e766e965e 100644
--- a/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-pwa/package.json
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-pwa/package.json
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
   },
   "dependencies": {
     "@vue/cli-shared-utils": "^5.0.0-alpha.3",
-    "html-webpack-plugin": "^4.5.0",
+    "html-webpack-plugin": "^5.0.0",
     "webpack": "^5.10.0",
     "workbox-webpack-plugin": "^6.0.2"
   },
diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-webpack-4/generator.js b/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-webpack-4/generator.js
index 195d1476a9..1458a6b128 100644
--- a/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-webpack-4/generator.js
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-webpack-4/generator.js
@@ -8,7 +8,10 @@ module.exports = (api) => {
     // Yarn and PNPM 5.10+ support this feature
     // So we'll try to use that whenever possible
     resolutions: {
-      '@vue/cli-*/webpack': '^4.0.0'
+      '@vue/cli-*/webpack': '^4.0.0',
+      'html-webpack-plugin': '^4.5.1'
     }
   })
+
+  // TODO: if uses sass, replace sass-loader@11 with sass-loader@10
 }
diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-webpack-4/index.js b/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-webpack-4/index.js
index 5497b1d151..3f692ae078 100644
--- a/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-webpack-4/index.js
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-webpack-4/index.js
@@ -1,8 +1,13 @@
+const path = require('path')
+const moduleAlias = require('module-alias')
+
+const htmlWebpackPlugin4Path = path.dirname(require.resolve('html-webpack-plugin/package.json'))
+// We have to use module-alias for html-webpack-plguin, as it is required by many other plugins
+// as peer dependency for its `getHooks` API.
+// Should add the alias as early as possible to avoid problems
+// TODO: add debugging log here
+moduleAlias.addAlias('html-webpack-plugin', htmlWebpackPlugin4Path)
+
 /** @type {import('@vue/cli-service').ServicePlugin} */
-module.exports = () => {
-  // TODO:
-  // terser-webpack-plugin v4
-  // copy-webpack-plugin v6
-  // html-webpack-plugin v4
-  // css-minimizer-webpack-plugin v1
+module.exports = (api, options) => {
 }
diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-webpack-4/package.json b/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-webpack-4/package.json
index 2cc6923809..e8640e6555 100644
--- a/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-webpack-4/package.json
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli-plugin-webpack-4/package.json
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@
     "access": "public"
   },
   "dependencies": {
+    "html-webpack-plugin": "^4.5.1",
+    "module-alias": "^2.2.2",
     "webpack": "^4.44.2"
   },
   "peerDependencies": {
diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli-service/__tests__/build.spec.js b/packages/@vue/cli-service/__tests__/build.spec.js
index 92bbe79d91..8ebd58e65a 100644
--- a/packages/@vue/cli-service/__tests__/build.spec.js
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli-service/__tests__/build.spec.js
@@ -38,8 +38,8 @@ test('build', async () => {
   // expect(index).toMatch(/<link [^>]+app[^>]+\.css" rel="preload" as="style">/)
 
   // should inject scripts
-  expect(index).toMatch(/<script src="\/js\/chunk-vendors\.\w{8}\.js">/)
-  expect(index).toMatch(/<script src="\/js\/app\.\w{8}\.js">/)
+  expect(index).toMatch(/<script defer="defer" src="\/js\/chunk-vendors\.\w{8}\.js">/)
+  expect(index).toMatch(/<script defer="defer" src="\/js\/app\.\w{8}\.js">/)
   // should inject css
   expect(index).toMatch(/<link href="\/css\/app\.\w{8}\.css" rel="stylesheet">/)
 
diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli-service/__tests__/cors.spec.js b/packages/@vue/cli-service/__tests__/cors.spec.js
index 9bd62d02d8..64dfd15f8d 100644
--- a/packages/@vue/cli-service/__tests__/cors.spec.js
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli-service/__tests__/cors.spec.js
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@ test('build', async () => {
   // expect(index).toMatch(/<link [^>]+app[^>]+\.css rel=preload as=style crossorigin>/)
 
   // should apply crossorigin and add integrity to scripts and css
-  expect(index).toMatch(/<script src="\/js\/chunk-vendors\.\w{8}\.js" crossorigin integrity="sha384-.{64}\s?">/)
-  expect(index).toMatch(/<script src="\/js\/app\.\w{8}\.js" crossorigin integrity="sha384-.{64}\s?">/)
+  expect(index).toMatch(/<script defer="defer" src="\/js\/chunk-vendors\.\w{8}\.js" crossorigin integrity="sha384-.{64}\s?">/)
+  expect(index).toMatch(/<script defer="defer" src="\/js\/app\.\w{8}\.js" crossorigin integrity="sha384-.{64}\s?">/)
   expect(index).toMatch(/<link href="\/css\/app\.\w{8}\.css" rel="stylesheet" crossorigin integrity="sha384-.{64}\s?">/)
 
   // verify integrity is correct by actually running it
diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli-service/__tests__/modernMode.spec.js b/packages/@vue/cli-service/__tests__/modernMode.spec.js
index 1542e2486a..b74d9fec8f 100644
--- a/packages/@vue/cli-service/__tests__/modernMode.spec.js
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli-service/__tests__/modernMode.spec.js
@@ -32,16 +32,16 @@ test('modern mode', async () => {
   const index = await project.read('dist/index.html')
 
   // should use <script type="module" crossorigin="use-credentials"> for modern bundle
-  expect(index).toMatch(/<script src="\/js\/chunk-vendors\.\w{8}\.js" type="module">/)
-  expect(index).toMatch(/<script src="\/js\/app\.\w{8}\.js" type="module">/)
+  expect(index).toMatch(/<script defer="defer" src="\/js\/chunk-vendors\.\w{8}\.js" type="module">/)
+  expect(index).toMatch(/<script defer="defer" src="\/js\/app\.\w{8}\.js" type="module">/)
 
   // should use <link rel="modulepreload" crossorigin="use-credentials"> for modern bundle
   // expect(index).toMatch(/<link [^>]*js\/chunk-vendors\.\w{8}\.js" rel="modulepreload" as="script">/)
   // expect(index).toMatch(/<link [^>]*js\/app\.\w{8}\.js" rel="modulepreload" as="script">/)
 
   // should use <script nomodule> for legacy bundle
-  expect(index).toMatch(/<script src="\/js\/chunk-vendors-legacy\.\w{8}\.js" nomodule>/)
-  expect(index).toMatch(/<script src="\/js\/app-legacy\.\w{8}\.js" nomodule>/)
+  expect(index).toMatch(/<script defer="defer" src="\/js\/chunk-vendors-legacy\.\w{8}\.js" nomodule>/)
+  expect(index).toMatch(/<script defer="defer" src="\/js\/app-legacy\.\w{8}\.js" nomodule>/)
 
   // should inject Safari 10 nomodule fix
   const { safariFix } = require('../lib/webpack/ModernModePlugin')
@@ -53,8 +53,8 @@ test('modern mode', async () => {
   expect(stdout2).toMatch('Build complete.')
   const index2 = await project.read('dist/index.html')
   // should use <script type="module" crossorigin="use-credentials"> for modern bundle
-  expect(index2).toMatch(/<script src="\/js\/chunk-vendors\.\w{8}\.js" crossorigin="use-credentials" type="module">/)
-  expect(index2).toMatch(/<script src="\/js\/app\.\w{8}\.js" crossorigin="use-credentials" type="module">/)
+  expect(index2).toMatch(/<script defer="defer" src="\/js\/chunk-vendors\.\w{8}\.js" crossorigin="use-credentials" type="module">/)
+  expect(index2).toMatch(/<script defer="defer" src="\/js\/app\.\w{8}\.js" crossorigin="use-credentials" type="module">/)
   // should use <link rel="modulepreload" crossorigin="use-credentials"> for modern bundle
   // expect(index2).toMatch(/<link [^>]*js\/chunk-vendors\.\w{8}\.js" rel="modulepreload" as="script" crossorigin="use-credentials">/)
   // expect(index2).toMatch(/<link [^>]*js\/app\.\w{8}\.js" rel="modulepreload" as="script" crossorigin="use-credentials">/)
diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli-service/lib/Service.js b/packages/@vue/cli-service/lib/Service.js
index a477177a07..8f0bd289bc 100644
--- a/packages/@vue/cli-service/lib/Service.js
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli-service/lib/Service.js
@@ -187,6 +187,18 @@ module.exports = class Service {
             return idToPlugin(id, resolveModule(id, this.pkgContext))
           }
         })
+
+      // Add the plugin automatically to simplify the webpack-4 tests
+      // so that a simple Jest alias would suffice, avoid changing every
+      // preset used in the tests
+      if (
+        process.env.VUE_CLI_TEST &&
+        process.env.VUE_CLI_USE_WEBPACK4 &&
+        !projectPlugins.some((p) => p.id === '@vue/cli-plugin-webpack-4')
+      ) {
+        builtInPlugins.push(idToPlugin('@vue/cli-plugin-webpack-4'))
+      }
+
       plugins = builtInPlugins.concat(projectPlugins)
     }
 
diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli-service/lib/config/app.js b/packages/@vue/cli-service/lib/config/app.js
index ad5d9aa758..b060b61fdd 100644
--- a/packages/@vue/cli-service/lib/config/app.js
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli-service/lib/config/app.js
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ module.exports = (api, options) => {
 
     const htmlOptions = {
       title: api.service.pkg.name,
+      scriptLoading: 'defer',
       templateParameters: (compilation, assets, assetTags, pluginOptions) => {
         // enhance html-webpack-plugin's built in template params
         let stats
diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli-service/lib/webpack/ModernModePlugin.js b/packages/@vue/cli-service/lib/webpack/ModernModePlugin.js
index 874b361338..3e3d3a7b44 100644
--- a/packages/@vue/cli-service/lib/webpack/ModernModePlugin.js
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli-service/lib/webpack/ModernModePlugin.js
@@ -32,7 +32,12 @@ class ModernModePlugin {
         const htmlPath = path.dirname(data.plugin.options.filename)
         const tempFilename = path.join(this.targetDir, htmlPath, `legacy-assets-${htmlName}.json`)
         await fs.mkdirp(path.dirname(tempFilename))
-        await fs.writeFile(tempFilename, JSON.stringify(data.bodyTags))
+
+        let tags = data.bodyTags
+        if (data.plugin.options.scriptLoading === 'defer') {
+          tags = data.headTags
+        }
+        await fs.writeFile(tempFilename, JSON.stringify(tags))
         cb()
       })
     })
@@ -42,8 +47,12 @@ class ModernModePlugin {
     const ID = `vue-cli-modern-bundle`
     compiler.hooks.compilation.tap(ID, compilation => {
       HtmlWebpackPlugin.getHooks(compilation).alterAssetTagGroups.tapAsync(ID, async (data, cb) => {
+        let tags = data.bodyTags
+        if (data.plugin.options.scriptLoading === 'defer') {
+          tags = data.headTags
+        }
         // use <script type="module"> for modern assets
-        data.bodyTags.forEach(tag => {
+        tags.forEach(tag => {
           if (tag.tagName === 'script' && tag.attributes) {
             tag.attributes.type = 'module'
           }
@@ -70,7 +79,7 @@ class ModernModePlugin {
 
         if (this.unsafeInline) {
           // inject inline Safari 10 nomodule fix
-          data.bodyTags.push({
+          tags.push({
             tagName: 'script',
             closeTag: true,
             innerHTML: safariFix
@@ -87,7 +96,7 @@ class ModernModePlugin {
               return Buffer.byteLength(safariFix)
             }
           }
-          data.bodyTags.push({
+          tags.push({
             tagName: 'script',
             closeTag: true,
             attributes: {
@@ -96,7 +105,7 @@ class ModernModePlugin {
           })
         }
 
-        data.bodyTags.push(...legacyAssets)
+        tags.push(...legacyAssets)
         await fs.remove(tempFilename)
         cb()
       })
diff --git a/packages/@vue/cli-service/package.json b/packages/@vue/cli-service/package.json
index 5561fec0ef..732eb3e2e2 100644
--- a/packages/@vue/cli-service/package.json
+++ b/packages/@vue/cli-service/package.json
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@
     "fs-extra": "^9.0.1",
     "globby": "^11.0.1",
     "hash-sum": "^2.0.0",
-    "html-webpack-plugin": "^4.5.0",
+    "html-webpack-plugin": "^5.0.0",
     "launch-editor-middleware": "^2.2.1",
     "lodash.defaultsdeep": "^4.6.1",
     "lodash.mapvalues": "^4.6.0",
@@ -71,8 +71,8 @@
     "terser-webpack-plugin": "^4.2.3",
     "thread-loader": "^3.0.0",
     "url-loader": "^4.1.1",
-    "vue-loader": "^16.1.0",
-    "vue-loader-v15": "npm:vue-loader@^15.9.5",
+    "vue-loader": "^16.1.2",
+    "vue-loader-v15": "npm:vue-loader@^15.9.6",
     "vue-style-loader": "^4.1.2",
     "webpack": "^5.4.0",
     "webpack-bundle-analyzer": "^4.1.0",
diff --git a/scripts/test.js b/scripts/test.js
index abe6082514..0a6c0a8f81 100644
--- a/scripts/test.js
+++ b/scripts/test.js
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ if (args.p) {
   rawArgs.splice(i, 2)
 }
 
-const e2ePathPattern = 'Migrator|Vue3|mochaPlugin|MochaPlugin'
+const e2ePathPattern = 'Migrator|Vue3|mochaPlugin|MochaPlugin|cli-plugin-webpack-4'
 
 if (args['e2e-only']) {
   regex = e2ePathPattern
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 2249ef15a7..925740f77f 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -11906,21 +11906,33 @@ html-tags@^3.1.0:
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/html-tags/-/html-tags-3.1.0.tgz#7b5e6f7e665e9fb41f30007ed9e0d41e97fb2140"
   integrity sha512-1qYz89hW3lFDEazhjW0yVAV87lw8lVkrJocr72XmBkMKsoSVJCQx3W8BXsC7hO2qAt8BoVjYjtAcZ9perqGnNg==
 
-html-webpack-plugin@^4.5.0:
-  version "4.5.0"
-  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/html-webpack-plugin/-/html-webpack-plugin-4.5.0.tgz#625097650886b97ea5dae331c320e3238f6c121c"
-  integrity sha512-MouoXEYSjTzCrjIxWwg8gxL5fE2X2WZJLmBYXlaJhQUH5K/b5OrqmV7T4dB7iu0xkmJ6JlUuV6fFVtnqbPopZw==
+html-webpack-plugin@^4.5.1:
+  version "4.5.1"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/html-webpack-plugin/-/html-webpack-plugin-4.5.1.tgz#40aaf1b5cb78f2f23a83333999625c20929cda65"
+  integrity sha512-yzK7RQZwv9xB+pcdHNTjcqbaaDZ+5L0zJHXfi89iWIZmb/FtzxhLk0635rmJihcQbs3ZUF27Xp4oWGx6EK56zg==
   dependencies:
     "@types/html-minifier-terser" "^5.0.0"
     "@types/tapable" "^1.0.5"
     "@types/webpack" "^4.41.8"
     html-minifier-terser "^5.0.1"
     loader-utils "^1.2.3"
-    lodash "^4.17.15"
+    lodash "^4.17.20"
     pretty-error "^2.1.1"
     tapable "^1.1.3"
     util.promisify "1.0.0"
 
+html-webpack-plugin@^5.0.0:
+  version "5.0.0"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/html-webpack-plugin/-/html-webpack-plugin-5.0.0.tgz#457a9defb33ce368135078b4e0387a27f3fe244d"
+  integrity sha512-kxTyb8cyZwEyUqXTgdHRUOF4C7uCrquzw2T+YTudehm/yspodgCkREjdmc4dXI8k2P4NEjqOVbnOOlPZg4TKJA==
+  dependencies:
+    "@types/html-minifier-terser" "^5.0.0"
+    html-minifier-terser "^5.0.1"
+    loader-utils "^2.0.0"
+    lodash "^4.17.20"
+    pretty-error "^2.1.1"
+    tapable "^2.0.0"
+
 htmlparser2@^3.3.0:
   version "3.10.1"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/htmlparser2/-/htmlparser2-3.10.1.tgz#bd679dc3f59897b6a34bb10749c855bb53a9392f"
@@ -21445,7 +21457,18 @@ vue-jest@^3.0.5:
     tsconfig "^7.0.0"
     vue-template-es2015-compiler "^1.6.0"
 
-"vue-loader-v15@npm:vue-loader@^15.9.5", vue-loader@^15.7.1:
+"vue-loader-v15@npm:vue-loader@^15.9.6":
+  version "15.9.6"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/vue-loader/-/vue-loader-15.9.6.tgz#f4bb9ae20c3a8370af3ecf09b8126d38ffdb6b8b"
+  integrity sha512-j0cqiLzwbeImIC6nVIby2o/ABAWhlppyL/m5oJ67R5MloP0hj/DtFgb0Zmq3J9CG7AJ+AXIvHVnJAPBvrLyuDg==
+  dependencies:
+    "@vue/component-compiler-utils" "^3.1.0"
+    hash-sum "^1.0.2"
+    loader-utils "^1.1.0"
+    vue-hot-reload-api "^2.3.0"
+    vue-style-loader "^4.1.0"
+
+vue-loader@^15.7.1:
   version "15.9.5"
   resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/vue-loader/-/vue-loader-15.9.5.tgz#7a960dc420a3439deaacdda038fdcdbf7c432706"
   integrity sha512-oeMOs2b5o5gRqkxfds10bCx6JeXYTwivRgbb8hzOrcThD2z1+GqEKE3EX9A2SGbsYDf4rXwRg6D5n1w0jO5SwA==
@@ -21456,10 +21479,10 @@ vue-jest@^3.0.5:
     vue-hot-reload-api "^2.3.0"
     vue-style-loader "^4.1.0"
 
-vue-loader@^16.1.0:
-  version "16.1.1"
-  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/vue-loader/-/vue-loader-16.1.1.tgz#f5b286d60ac6886684c63a17a184391cc9e0199a"
-  integrity sha512-wz/+HFg/3SBayHWAlZXARcnDTl3VOChrfW9YnxvAweiuyKX/7IGx1ad/4yJHmwhgWlOVYMAbTiI7GV8G33PfGQ==
+vue-loader@^16.1.2:
+  version "16.1.2"
+  resolved "https://registry.yarnpkg.com/vue-loader/-/vue-loader-16.1.2.tgz#5c03b6c50d2a5f983c7ceba15c50d78ca2b298f4"
+  integrity sha512-8QTxh+Fd+HB6fiL52iEVLKqE9N1JSlMXLR92Ijm6g8PZrwIxckgpqjPDWRP5TWxdiPaHR+alUWsnu1ShQOwt+Q==
   dependencies:
     chalk "^4.1.0"
     hash-sum "^2.0.0"