diff --git a/packages/nx/src/plugins/target-defaults/target-defaults-plugin.spec.ts b/packages/nx/src/plugins/target-defaults/target-defaults-plugin.spec.ts
index 504982bcd3..d27f1662ce 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/plugins/target-defaults/target-defaults-plugin.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/plugins/target-defaults/target-defaults-plugin.spec.ts
@@ -233,4 +233,67 @@ describe('target-defaults plugin', () => {
       }
     `);
   });
+
+  describe('executor key', () => {
+    it('should support multiple targets with the same executor', () => {
+      memfs.vol.fromJSON(
+        {
+          'project.json': JSON.stringify({
+            name: 'root',
+            targets: {
+              echo: {
+                executor: 'nx:run-commands',
+                options: {
+                  command: 'echo 1',
+                },
+              },
+              echo2: {
+                executor: 'nx:run-commands',
+                options: {
+                  command: 'echo 2',
+                },
+              },
+            },
+          }),
+        },
+        '/root'
+      );
+
+      context.nxJsonConfiguration.targetDefaults = {
+        'nx:run-commands': {
+          options: {
+            cwd: '{projectRoot}',
+          },
+        },
+      };
+
+      expect(createNodesFn('project.json', undefined, context))
+        .toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
+        {
+          "projects": {
+            ".": {
+              "targets": {
+                "echo": {
+                  "options": {
+                    "cwd": "{projectRoot}",
+                  },
+                },
+                "echo2": {
+                  "options": {
+                    "cwd": "{projectRoot}",
+                  },
+                },
+                "nx:run-commands": {
+                  "options": {
+                    "cwd": "{projectRoot}",
+                  },
+                  Symbol(ONLY_MODIFIES_EXISTING_TARGET): true,
+                },
+              },
+            },
+          },
+        }
+      `);
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/nx/src/plugins/target-defaults/target-defaults-plugin.ts b/packages/nx/src/plugins/target-defaults/target-defaults-plugin.ts
index 57fac4355a..32aecaa843 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/plugins/target-defaults/target-defaults-plugin.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/plugins/target-defaults/target-defaults-plugin.ts
@@ -67,6 +67,7 @@ export const TargetDefaultsPlugin: NxPluginV2 = {
           return true;
         }),
         ...Object.keys(projectJson?.targets ?? {}),
+        ...Object.keys(packageJson?.nx?.targets ?? {}),
       ]);
 
       const executorToTargetMap = getExecutorToTargetMap(
@@ -74,27 +75,31 @@ export const TargetDefaultsPlugin: NxPluginV2 = {
         projectJson
       );
 
-      const newTargets: Record<
+      const modifiedTargets: Record<
         string,
         TargetConfiguration & { [ONLY_MODIFIES_EXISTING_TARGET]?: boolean }
       > = {};
       for (const defaultSpecifier in targetDefaults) {
-        const targetName =
-          executorToTargetMap.get(defaultSpecifier) ?? defaultSpecifier;
-        newTargets[targetName] = structuredClone(
-          targetDefaults[defaultSpecifier]
-        );
-        // TODO: Remove this after we figure out a way to define new targets
-        // in target defaults
-        if (!projectDefinedTargets.has(targetName)) {
-          newTargets[targetName][ONLY_MODIFIES_EXISTING_TARGET] = true;
+        const targetNames =
+          executorToTargetMap.get(defaultSpecifier) ?? new Set();
+        targetNames.add(defaultSpecifier);
+
+        for (const targetName of targetNames) {
+          modifiedTargets[targetName] = structuredClone(
+            targetDefaults[defaultSpecifier]
+          );
+          // TODO: Remove this after we figure out a way to define new targets
+          // in target defaults
+          if (!projectDefinedTargets.has(targetName)) {
+            modifiedTargets[targetName][ONLY_MODIFIES_EXISTING_TARGET] = true;
+          }
         }
       }
 
       return {
         projects: {
           [root]: {
-            targets: newTargets,
+            targets: modifiedTargets,
           },
         },
       };
@@ -106,20 +111,20 @@ function getExecutorToTargetMap(
   packageJson: PackageJson,
   projectJson: ProjectConfiguration
 ) {
-  const executorToTargetMap = new Map<string, string>();
-  if (packageJson?.scripts) {
-    for (const script in packageJson.scripts) {
-      executorToTargetMap.set('nx:run-script', script);
-    }
-  }
-  if (projectJson?.targets) {
-    for (const target in projectJson.targets) {
-      if (projectJson.targets[target].executor) {
-        executorToTargetMap.set(projectJson.targets[target].executor, target);
-      } else if (projectJson.targets[target].command) {
-        executorToTargetMap.set('nx:run-commands', target);
-      }
-    }
+  const executorToTargetMap = new Map<string, Set<string>>();
+  const targets = Object.keys({
+    ...projectJson?.targets,
+    ...packageJson?.scripts,
+    ...packageJson?.nx?.targets,
+  });
+  for (const target of targets) {
+    const executor =
+      projectJson?.targets?.[target]?.executor ??
+      packageJson?.nx?.targets?.[target]?.executor ??
+      'nx:run-script';
+    const targetsForExecutor = executorToTargetMap.get(executor) ?? new Set();
+    targetsForExecutor.add(target);
+    executorToTargetMap.set(executor, targetsForExecutor);
   }
   return executorToTargetMap;
 }
diff --git a/packages/nx/src/project-graph/utils/project-configuration-utils.spec.ts b/packages/nx/src/project-graph/utils/project-configuration-utils.spec.ts
index 5374938276..852269e2dc 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/project-graph/utils/project-configuration-utils.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/project-graph/utils/project-configuration-utils.spec.ts
@@ -403,6 +403,21 @@ describe('project-configuration-utils', () => {
         `);
       });
     });
+
+    describe('cache', () => {
+      it('should not be merged for incompatible targets', () => {
+        const result = mergeTargetConfigurations(
+          {
+            executor: 'foo',
+          },
+          {
+            executor: 'bar',
+            cache: true,
+          }
+        );
+        expect(result.cache).not.toBeDefined();
+      });
+    });
   });
 
   describe('mergeProjectConfigurationIntoRootMap', () => {
diff --git a/packages/nx/src/utils/package-json.spec.ts b/packages/nx/src/utils/package-json.spec.ts
index b4ea5a0e6d..5c42572a25 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/utils/package-json.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/utils/package-json.spec.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import { readJsonFile } from './fileutils';
 import {
   buildTargetFromScript,
   PackageJson,
-  PackageJsonTargetConfiguration,
   readModulePackageJson,
   readTargetsFromPackageJson,
 } from './package-json';
@@ -36,7 +35,7 @@ describe('buildTargetFromScript', () => {
             script: 'other',
           },
           executor: 'custom:execute',
-        } as PackageJsonTargetConfiguration,
+        },
       },
     });
 
diff --git a/packages/nx/src/utils/package-json.ts b/packages/nx/src/utils/package-json.ts
index 5f1bd57f97..95487c4588 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/utils/package-json.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/utils/package-json.ts
@@ -7,16 +7,11 @@ import {
 import { readJsonFile } from './fileutils';
 import { getNxRequirePaths } from './installation-directory';
 
-export type PackageJsonTargetConfiguration = Omit<
-  TargetConfiguration,
-  'executor'
->;
-
 export interface NxProjectPackageJsonConfiguration {
   implicitDependencies?: string[];
   tags?: string[];
   namedInputs?: { [inputName: string]: (string | InputDefinition)[] };
-  targets?: Record<string, PackageJsonTargetConfiguration>;
+  targets?: Record<string, TargetConfiguration>;
   includedScripts?: string[];
 }