diff --git a/packages/runtime-vapor/__tests__/component.spec.ts b/packages/runtime-vapor/__tests__/component.spec.ts
index 5fdff8eafe4..e876d696186 100644
--- a/packages/runtime-vapor/__tests__/component.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/runtime-vapor/__tests__/component.spec.ts
@@ -306,25 +306,29 @@ describe('component', () => {
     __DEV__ = true
   })
 
-  it('warn if functional vapor component not return a block', () => {
-    define(() => {
-      return () => {}
+  it('functional vapor component return a object', () => {
+    const { host } = define(() => {
+      return {}
     }).render()
 
-    expect(
-      'Functional vapor component must return a block directly',
-    ).toHaveBeenWarned()
+    expect(host.textContent).toBe(`[object Object]`)
   })
 
-  it('warn if setup return a function and no render function', () => {
-    define({
+  it('functional vapor component return a function', () => {
+    const { host } = define(() => {
+      return () => ({})
+    }).render()
+
+    expect(host.textContent).toBe(`() => ({})`)
+  })
+
+  it('setup return a function and no render function', () => {
+    const { host } = define({
       setup() {
         return () => []
       },
     }).render()
 
-    expect(
-      'Vapor component setup() returned non-block value, and has no render function',
-    ).toHaveBeenWarned()
+    expect(host.textContent).toBe(`() => []`)
   })
 })
diff --git a/packages/runtime-vapor/__tests__/dom/node.spec.ts b/packages/runtime-vapor/__tests__/dom/node.spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..89995406d11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/runtime-vapor/__tests__/dom/node.spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+import { createTextNode, normalizeNode } from '../../src/dom/node'
+import { VaporFragment } from '../../src'
+
+describe('dom node', () => {
+  test('normalizeNode', () => {
+    // null / undefined -> Comment
+    expect(normalizeNode(null)).toBeInstanceOf(Comment)
+    expect(normalizeNode(undefined)).toBeInstanceOf(Comment)
+
+    // boolean -> Comment
+    expect(normalizeNode(true)).toBeInstanceOf(Comment)
+    expect(normalizeNode(false)).toBeInstanceOf(Comment)
+
+    // array -> Fragment
+    expect(normalizeNode(['foo'])).toBeInstanceOf(VaporFragment)
+
+    // VNode -> VNode
+    const vnode = createTextNode('div')
+    expect(normalizeNode(vnode)).toBe(vnode)
+
+    // primitive types
+    expect(normalizeNode('foo')).toMatchObject(createTextNode('foo'))
+    expect(normalizeNode(1)).toMatchObject(createTextNode('1'))
+  })
+})
diff --git a/packages/runtime-vapor/__tests__/errorHandling.spec.ts b/packages/runtime-vapor/__tests__/errorHandling.spec.ts
index 87a79614d41..a8e55482a54 100644
--- a/packages/runtime-vapor/__tests__/errorHandling.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/runtime-vapor/__tests__/errorHandling.spec.ts
@@ -182,7 +182,6 @@ describe('error handling', () => {
 
     define(Comp).render()
     expect(fn).toHaveBeenCalledWith(err, 'setup function')
-    expect(`returned non-block value`).toHaveBeenWarned()
   })
 
   test('in render function', () => {
diff --git a/packages/runtime-vapor/src/component.ts b/packages/runtime-vapor/src/component.ts
index 548babebf8b..97677fbf6ce 100644
--- a/packages/runtime-vapor/src/component.ts
+++ b/packages/runtime-vapor/src/component.ts
@@ -23,9 +23,8 @@ import {
   simpleSetCurrentInstance,
   startMeasure,
   unregisterHMR,
-  warn,
 } from '@vue/runtime-dom'
-import { type Block, insert, isBlock, remove } from './block'
+import { type Block, insert, remove } from './block'
 import {
   type ShallowRef,
   markRaw,
@@ -60,6 +59,7 @@ import {
 import { hmrReload, hmrRerender } from './hmr'
 import { isHydrating, locateHydrationNode } from './dom/hydration'
 import { insertionAnchor, insertionParent } from './insertionState'
+import { normalizeNode } from './dom/node'
 
 export { currentInstance } from '@vue/runtime-dom'
 
@@ -204,18 +204,12 @@ export function createComponent(
     ? callWithErrorHandling(setupFn, instance, ErrorCodes.SETUP_FUNCTION, [
         instance.props,
         instance,
-      ]) || EMPTY_OBJ
-    : EMPTY_OBJ
-
-  if (__DEV__ && !isBlock(setupResult)) {
-    if (isFunction(component)) {
-      warn(`Functional vapor component must return a block directly.`)
-      instance.block = []
-    } else if (!component.render) {
-      warn(
-        `Vapor component setup() returned non-block value, and has no render function.`,
-      )
-      instance.block = []
+      ]) || []
+    : []
+
+  if (__DEV__) {
+    if (isFunction(component) || !component.render) {
+      instance.block = normalizeNode(setupResult)
     } else {
       instance.devtoolsRawSetupState = setupResult
       // TODO make the proxy warn non-existent property access during dev
@@ -241,7 +235,7 @@ export function createComponent(
       )
     } else {
       // in prod result can only be block
-      instance.block = setupResult as Block
+      instance.block = normalizeNode(setupResult)
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/runtime-vapor/src/dom/node.ts b/packages/runtime-vapor/src/dom/node.ts
index 83bc32c57f0..608aba627df 100644
--- a/packages/runtime-vapor/src/dom/node.ts
+++ b/packages/runtime-vapor/src/dom/node.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+import { type Block, VaporFragment, isBlock } from '../block'
+import { isArray } from '@vue/shared'
+
 /*! #__NO_SIDE_EFFECTS__ */
 export function createTextNode(value = ''): Text {
   return document.createTextNode(value)
@@ -27,3 +30,24 @@ export function nthChild(node: Node, i: number): Node {
 export function next(node: Node): Node {
   return node.nextSibling!
 }
+
+type NodeChildAtom = Node | string | number | boolean | null | undefined | void
+
+export type NodeArrayChildren = Array<NodeArrayChildren | NodeChildAtom>
+
+export type NodeChild = NodeChildAtom | NodeArrayChildren
+
+export function normalizeNode(node: NodeChild): Block {
+  if (node == null || typeof node === 'boolean') {
+    // empty placeholder
+    return createComment('')
+  } else if (isArray(node) && node.length) {
+    // fragment
+    return new VaporFragment(node.map(normalizeNode))
+  } else if (isBlock(node)) {
+    return node
+  } else {
+    // strings and numbers
+    return createTextNode(String(node))
+  }
+}