diff --git a/packages/cli/src/commands/start/startFrontend.ts b/packages/cli/src/commands/start/startFrontend.ts
index 2cc951f591..d7bdc3c384 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/commands/start/startFrontend.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/commands/start/startFrontend.ts
@@ -14,13 +14,7 @@
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
-import chalk from 'chalk';
-import uniq from 'lodash/uniq';
 import { serveBundle } from '../../lib/bundler';
-import { PackageGraph } from '@backstage/cli-node';
-import { Lockfile } from '../../lib/versioning';
-import { forbiddenDuplicatesFilter, includedFilter } from '../versions/lint';
-import { paths } from '../../lib/paths';
 
 interface StartAppOptions {
   verifyVersions?: boolean;
@@ -30,65 +24,7 @@ interface StartAppOptions {
   configPaths: string[];
 }
 
-function checkReactVersion() {
-  try {
-    // Make sure we're looking at the root of the target repo
-    const reactPkgPath = require.resolve('react/package.json', {
-      paths: [paths.targetRoot],
-    });
-    const reactPkg = require(reactPkgPath);
-    if (reactPkg.version.startsWith('16.')) {
-      console.log(
-        chalk.yellow(
-          `
-⚠️                                                                           ⚠️
-⚠️ You are using React version 16, which is deprecated for use in Backstage. ⚠️
-⚠️ Please upgrade to React 17 by updating your packages/app dependencies.    ⚠️
-⚠️                                                                           ⚠️
-`,
-        ),
-      );
-    }
-  } catch {
-    /* ignored */
-  }
-}
-
 export async function startFrontend(options: StartAppOptions) {
-  if (options.verifyVersions) {
-    const lockfile = await Lockfile.load(paths.resolveTargetRoot('yarn.lock'));
-    const result = lockfile.analyze({
-      filter: includedFilter,
-      localPackages: PackageGraph.fromPackages(
-        await PackageGraph.listTargetPackages(),
-      ),
-    });
-    const problemPackages = [...result.newVersions, ...result.newRanges]
-      .map(({ name }) => name)
-      .filter(forbiddenDuplicatesFilter);
-
-    if (problemPackages.length > 1) {
-      console.log(
-        chalk.yellow(
-          `⚠️   Some of the following packages may be outdated or have duplicate installations:
-
-          ${uniq(problemPackages).join(', ')}
-        `,
-        ),
-      );
-      console.log(
-        chalk.yellow(
-          `⚠️   This can be resolved using the following command:
-
-          yarn backstage-cli versions:check --fix
-      `,
-        ),
-      );
-    }
-  }
-
-  checkReactVersion();
-
   const waitForExit = await serveBundle({
     entry: options.entry,
     checksEnabled: options.checksEnabled,
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/lib/bundler/server.ts b/packages/cli/src/lib/bundler/server.ts
index 2ac717243f..74c6b2a53c 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/lib/bundler/server.ts
+++ b/packages/cli/src/lib/bundler/server.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ import fs from 'fs-extra';
 import webpack from 'webpack';
 import WebpackDevServer from 'webpack-dev-server';
 import openBrowser from 'react-dev-utils/openBrowser';
+import uniq from 'lodash/uniq';
+
 import { createConfig, resolveBaseUrl } from './config';
 import { ServeOptions } from './types';
 import { resolveBundlingPaths } from './paths';
@@ -25,8 +27,50 @@ import { paths as libPaths } from '../../lib/paths';
 import { loadCliConfig } from '../config';
 import chalk from 'chalk';
 import { AppConfig } from '@backstage/config';
+import { PackageGraph } from '@backstage/cli-node';
+import { Lockfile } from '../versioning';
+import {
+  forbiddenDuplicatesFilter,
+  includedFilter,
+} from '../../commands/versions/lint';
 
 export async function serveBundle(options: ServeOptions) {
+  if (options.verifyVersions) {
+    const lockfile = await Lockfile.load(
+      libPaths.resolveTargetRoot('yarn.lock'),
+    );
+    const result = lockfile.analyze({
+      filter: includedFilter,
+      localPackages: PackageGraph.fromPackages(
+        await PackageGraph.listTargetPackages(),
+      ),
+    });
+    const problemPackages = [...result.newVersions, ...result.newRanges]
+      .map(({ name }) => name)
+      .filter(forbiddenDuplicatesFilter);
+
+    if (problemPackages.length > 1) {
+      console.log(
+        chalk.yellow(
+          `⚠️   Some of the following packages may be outdated or have duplicate installations:
+
+          ${uniq(problemPackages).join(', ')}
+        `,
+        ),
+      );
+      console.log(
+        chalk.yellow(
+          `⚠️   This can be resolved using the following command:
+
+          yarn backstage-cli versions:check --fix
+      `,
+        ),
+      );
+    }
+  }
+
+  checkReactVersion();
+
   const { name } = await fs.readJson(libPaths.resolveTarget('package.json'));
 
   let server: WebpackDevServer | undefined = undefined;
@@ -153,3 +197,27 @@ export async function serveBundle(options: ServeOptions) {
 
   return waitForExit;
 }
+
+function checkReactVersion() {
+  try {
+    // Make sure we're looking at the root of the target repo
+    const reactPkgPath = require.resolve('react/package.json', {
+      paths: [libPaths.targetRoot],
+    });
+    const reactPkg = require(reactPkgPath);
+    if (reactPkg.version.startsWith('16.')) {
+      console.log(
+        chalk.yellow(
+          `
+⚠️                                                                           ⚠️
+⚠️ You are using React version 16, which is deprecated for use in Backstage. ⚠️
+⚠️ Please upgrade to React 17 by updating your packages/app dependencies.    ⚠️
+⚠️                                                                           ⚠️
+`,
+        ),
+      );
+    }
+  } catch {
+    /* ignored */
+  }
+}