Indian summer monsoon (ISM) change under global warming is a serious concern because of its widespread socio-economic impacts. Under the greenhouse gas (GHG)-induced near future warming, climate models project a weakened ISM circulation, limiting the rate of monsoon rainfall increase. However, we find that climate models commonly simulate a strengthened ISM circulation in favor of ISM rainfall increase during the mid-Pliocene that is often considered analogous to the ongoing anthropogenic warming. This enhanced ISM circulation change is physically consistent with a dramatically strong warming over Eastern Eurasia, which strengthened the mid-upper tropospheric meridional temperature gradient across the ISM region. Sensitivity experiments reveal that such an Eastern Eurasian warming was closely associated with the northern continental greening via local vegetation-albedo feedback. Our results highlight that the land cover changes, rather than GHG forcing, dominated this regional-scale warming and resultant regional hydrological cycle in the mid-Pliocene warm period.