diff --git a/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/com/facebook/react/ReactPlugin.kt b/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/com/facebook/react/ReactPlugin.kt
index ebad04dab80..ce9743eb398 100644
--- a/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/com/facebook/react/ReactPlugin.kt
+++ b/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/com/facebook/react/ReactPlugin.kt
@@ -27,8 +27,8 @@ class ReactPlugin : Plugin<Project> {
   }
 
   private fun applyAppPlugin(project: Project, config: ReactExtension) {
-    if (config.applyAppPlugin.getOrElse(false)) {
-      project.afterEvaluate {
+    project.afterEvaluate {
+      if (config.applyAppPlugin.getOrElse(false)) {
         val androidConfiguration = project.extensions.getByType(BaseExtension::class.java)
         project.configureDevPorts(androidConfiguration)
 
diff --git a/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/src/test/kotlin/com/facebook/react/ReactPluginTest.kt b/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/src/test/kotlin/com/facebook/react/ReactPluginTest.kt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..602dd522f40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/src/test/kotlin/com/facebook/react/ReactPluginTest.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) Facebook, Inc. and its affiliates.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ */
+
+package com.facebook.react
+
+import com.android.build.gradle.AppExtension
+import org.gradle.testfixtures.ProjectBuilder
+import org.junit.Assert.assertTrue
+import org.junit.Test
+
+class ReactPluginTest {
+
+  @Test
+  fun reactPlugin_withApplyAppPluginSetToTrue_addsARelevantTask() {
+    val project = ProjectBuilder.builder().build()
+    project.plugins.apply("com.android.application")
+    project.plugins.apply("com.facebook.react")
+
+    project.extensions.getByType(AppExtension::class.java).apply { compileSdkVersion(30) }
+    project.extensions.getByType(ReactExtension::class.java).apply {
+      applyAppPlugin.set(true)
+      cliPath.set(".")
+    }
+
+    // We check if the App Plugin si applied by finding one of the added task.
+    assertTrue(project.getTasksByName("bundleDebugJsAndAssets", false).isNotEmpty())
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  fun reactPlugin_withApplyAppPluginSetToFalse_doesNotApplyTheAppPlugin() {
+    val project = ProjectBuilder.builder().build()
+    project.plugins.apply("com.android.application")
+    project.plugins.apply("com.facebook.react")
+
+    project.extensions.getByType(AppExtension::class.java).apply { compileSdkVersion(30) }
+    project.extensions.getByType(ReactExtension::class.java).apply { applyAppPlugin.set(false) }
+
+    assertTrue(project.getTasksByName("bundleDebugJsAndAssets", false).isEmpty())
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  fun reactPlugin_withApplyAppPluginSetToFalse_codegenPluginIsApplied() {
+    val project = ProjectBuilder.builder().build()
+    project.plugins.apply("com.android.application")
+    project.plugins.apply("com.facebook.react")
+
+    project.extensions.getByType(AppExtension::class.java).apply { compileSdkVersion(30) }
+    project.extensions.getByType(ReactExtension::class.java).apply { applyAppPlugin.set(false) }
+
+    assertTrue(project.getTasksByName("buildCodegenCLI", false).isNotEmpty())
+  }
+}