diff --git a/crates/environ/src/component/translate.rs b/crates/environ/src/component/translate.rs
index f0542e1ec0..f4ebc98492 100644
--- a/crates/environ/src/component/translate.rs
+++ b/crates/environ/src/component/translate.rs
@@ -603,6 +603,16 @@ impl<'a, 'data> Translator<'a, 'data> {
                 self.validator.component_export_section(&s)?;
                 for export in s {
                     let export = export?;
+
+                    // TODO: https://github.com/bytecodealliance/wasmtime/issues/4494
+                    // Currently, wit-component-based tooling creates components that
+                    // export types to represent the interface of a component so that
+                    // bindings can (potentially) be generated directly from the component
+                    // itself without a wit file. For now, we ignore these exports in Wasmtime.
+                    if wasmparser::ComponentExternalKind::Type == export.kind {
+                        continue;
+                    }
+
                     let item = self.kind_to_item(export.kind, export.index);
                     let prev = self.result.exports.insert(export.name, item);
                     assert!(prev.is_none());
diff --git a/tests/misc_testsuite/component-model/instance.wast b/tests/misc_testsuite/component-model/instance.wast
index 3d68d272c7..74e5270122 100644
--- a/tests/misc_testsuite/component-model/instance.wast
+++ b/tests/misc_testsuite/component-model/instance.wast
@@ -67,6 +67,12 @@
   ))
 )
 
+;; Test to see if a component with a type export can be instantiated.
+(component
+    (type string)
+    (export "" (type 0))
+)
+
 ;; double-check the start function runs by ensuring that a trap shows up and it
 ;; sees the wrong value for the global import
 (assert_trap