diff --git a/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/build.gradle.kts b/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/build.gradle.kts
index 5f1a955af52..d7ad553195f 100644
--- a/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/build.gradle.kts
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@
  * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
  */
 
+import org.gradle.api.internal.classpath.ModuleRegistry
+import org.gradle.configurationcache.extensions.serviceOf
+
 plugins {
   kotlin("jvm") version "1.4.21"
   id("java-gradle-plugin")
@@ -27,5 +30,12 @@ gradlePlugin {
 dependencies {
   implementation(gradleApi())
   implementation("com.android.tools.build:gradle:4.2.2")
+  
   testImplementation("junit:junit:4.13.2")
+
+  testRuntimeOnly(
+    files(
+      serviceOf<ModuleRegistry>().getModule("gradle-tooling-api-builders").classpath.asFiles.first()
+    )
+  )
 }
diff --git a/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/com/facebook/react/AndroidConfiguration.kt b/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/com/facebook/react/AndroidConfiguration.kt
index b7de384df6d..5babb8d50aa 100644
--- a/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/com/facebook/react/AndroidConfiguration.kt
+++ b/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/com/facebook/react/AndroidConfiguration.kt
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@ import com.android.build.gradle.BaseExtension
 import org.gradle.api.Project
 
 fun Project.configureDevPorts(androidExt: BaseExtension) {
-  val devServerPort = project.properties["reactNativeDevServerPort"]?.toString() ?: "8081"
+  val devServerPort =
+      project.properties["reactNativeDevServerPort"]?.toString() ?: DEFAULT_DEV_SERVER_PORT
   val inspectorProxyPort =
       project.properties["reactNativeInspectorProxyPort"]?.toString() ?: devServerPort
 
@@ -20,3 +21,5 @@ fun Project.configureDevPorts(androidExt: BaseExtension) {
     it.resValue("integer", "react_native_inspector_proxy_port", inspectorProxyPort)
   }
 }
+
+const val DEFAULT_DEV_SERVER_PORT = "8081"
diff --git a/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/src/test/kotlin/com/facebook/react/AndroidConfigurationTest.kt b/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/src/test/kotlin/com/facebook/react/AndroidConfigurationTest.kt
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..34f799ed505
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/src/test/kotlin/com/facebook/react/AndroidConfigurationTest.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+/*
+ * 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.BaseExtension
+import org.gradle.testfixtures.ProjectBuilder
+import org.junit.Assert.assertEquals
+import org.junit.Test
+
+class AndroidConfigurationTest {
+
+  @Test
+  fun configureDevPorts_withNoSpecifiedPort_usesDefault() {
+    val project = ProjectBuilder.builder().build()
+    project.pluginManager.apply("com.android.application")
+    val androidExtension = project.extensions.getByType(BaseExtension::class.java)
+    val debug = androidExtension.buildTypes.findByName("debug")
+    val release = androidExtension.buildTypes.findByName("release")
+
+    project.configureDevPorts(androidExtension)
+
+    assertEquals("8081", debug?.resValues?.get("react_native_dev_server_port")?.value)
+    assertEquals("8081", debug?.resValues?.get("react_native_inspector_proxy_port")?.value)
+    assertEquals("8081", release?.resValues?.get("react_native_dev_server_port")?.value)
+    assertEquals("8081", release?.resValues?.get("react_native_inspector_proxy_port")?.value)
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  fun configureDevPorts_withSpecifiedReactNativeDevServerPort_usesIt() {
+    val project = ProjectBuilder.builder().build()
+    project.pluginManager.apply("com.android.application")
+    val androidExtension = project.extensions.getByType(BaseExtension::class.java)
+    val debug = androidExtension.buildTypes.findByName("debug")
+    val release = androidExtension.buildTypes.findByName("release")
+
+    project.extensions.extraProperties["reactNativeDevServerPort"] = "42424"
+
+    project.configureDevPorts(androidExtension)
+
+    assertEquals("42424", debug?.resValues?.get("react_native_dev_server_port")?.value)
+    assertEquals("42424", debug?.resValues?.get("react_native_inspector_proxy_port")?.value)
+    assertEquals("42424", release?.resValues?.get("react_native_dev_server_port")?.value)
+    assertEquals("42424", release?.resValues?.get("react_native_inspector_proxy_port")?.value)
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  fun configureDevPorts_withSpecifiedReactNativeInspectorProxyPort_usesIt() {
+    val project = ProjectBuilder.builder().build()
+    project.pluginManager.apply("com.android.application")
+    val androidExtension = project.extensions.getByType(BaseExtension::class.java)
+    val debug = androidExtension.buildTypes.findByName("debug")
+    val release = androidExtension.buildTypes.findByName("release")
+
+    project.extensions.extraProperties["reactNativeInspectorProxyPort"] = "42424"
+
+    project.configureDevPorts(androidExtension)
+
+    assertEquals("8081", debug?.resValues?.get("react_native_dev_server_port")?.value)
+    assertEquals("42424", debug?.resValues?.get("react_native_inspector_proxy_port")?.value)
+    assertEquals("8081", release?.resValues?.get("react_native_dev_server_port")?.value)
+    assertEquals("42424", release?.resValues?.get("react_native_inspector_proxy_port")?.value)
+  }
+}