diff --git a/packages/dev-utils/src/devApp/render.test.tsx b/packages/dev-utils/src/devApp/render.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..fbebf2039b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/dev-utils/src/devApp/render.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2020 Spotify AB
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+import React from 'react';
+import { render } from '@testing-library/react';
+import { useApi, configApiRef } from '@backstage/core';
+import { createDevApp } from './render';
+
+const anyEnv = (process.env = { ...process.env }) as any;
+
+describe('DevAppBuilder', () => {
+  it('should be able to render a component in a dev app', async () => {
+    anyEnv.APP_CONFIG = [
+      { context: 'test', data: { app: { title: 'Test App' } } },
+    ];
+
+    const MyComponent = () => {
+      const configApi = useApi(configApiRef);
+      return <div>My App: {configApi.getString('app.title')}</div>;
+    };
+
+    const DevApp = createDevApp()
+      .addRootChild(<MyComponent />)
+      .build();
+
+    const rendered = render(<DevApp />);
+
+    expect(await rendered.findByText('My App: Test App')).toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+});