diff --git a/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/com/facebook/react/utils/PathUtils.kt b/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/com/facebook/react/utils/PathUtils.kt
index 302c1d83a7b412..d485aa69bdf424 100644
--- a/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/com/facebook/react/utils/PathUtils.kt
+++ b/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/src/main/kotlin/com/facebook/react/utils/PathUtils.kt
@@ -67,7 +67,18 @@ private fun detectCliPath(
 ): String {
   // 1. preconfigured path
   if (preconfiguredCliPath != null) {
-    return File(projectDir, preconfiguredCliPath).toString()
+    val preconfiguredCliJsAbsolute = File(preconfiguredCliPath)
+    if (preconfiguredCliJsAbsolute.exists()) {
+      return preconfiguredCliJsAbsolute.absolutePath
+    }
+    val preconfiguredCliJsRelativeToReactRoot = File(reactRoot, preconfiguredCliPath)
+    if (preconfiguredCliJsRelativeToReactRoot.exists()) {
+      return preconfiguredCliJsRelativeToReactRoot.absolutePath
+    }
+    val preconfiguredCliJsRelativeToProject = File(projectDir, preconfiguredCliPath)
+    if (preconfiguredCliJsRelativeToProject.exists()) {
+      return preconfiguredCliJsRelativeToProject.absolutePath
+    }
   }
 
   // 2. node module path
@@ -81,7 +92,10 @@ private fun detectCliPath(
   val nodeProcessOutput = nodeProcess.inputStream.use { it.bufferedReader().readText().trim() }
 
   if (nodeProcessOutput.isNotEmpty()) {
-    return nodeProcessOutput
+    val nodeModuleCliJs = File(nodeProcessOutput)
+    if (nodeModuleCliJs.exists()) {
+      return nodeModuleCliJs.absolutePath
+    }
   }
 
   // 3. cli.js in the root folder
diff --git a/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/src/test/kotlin/com/facebook/react/utils/PathUtilsTest.kt b/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/src/test/kotlin/com/facebook/react/utils/PathUtilsTest.kt
index debba45740b3b0..0c9d3669079059 100644
--- a/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/src/test/kotlin/com/facebook/react/utils/PathUtilsTest.kt
+++ b/packages/react-native-gradle-plugin/src/test/kotlin/com/facebook/react/utils/PathUtilsTest.kt
@@ -52,10 +52,47 @@ class PathUtilsTest {
   }
 
   @Test
-  fun detectedCliPath_withCliPathFromExtension() {
+  fun detectedCliPath_withCliPathFromExtensionAbsolute() {
     val project = ProjectBuilder.builder().build()
     val extension = TestReactExtension(project)
-    val expected = File(project.projectDir, "fake-cli.sh")
+    val expected =
+        File(project.projectDir, "abs/fake-cli.sh").apply {
+          parentFile.mkdirs()
+          writeText("<!-- nothing to see here -->")
+        }
+    extension.cliPath.set(project.projectDir + "/abs/fake-cli.sh")
+
+    val actual = detectedCliPath(project.projectDir, extension)
+
+    assertEquals(expected.toString(), actual)
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  fun detectedCliPath_withCliPathFromExtensionInReactFolder() {
+    val project = ProjectBuilder.builder().build()
+    val extension = TestReactExtension(project)
+    val expected =
+        File(project.projectDir, "/react-root/fake-cli.sh").apply {
+          parentFile.mkdirs()
+          writeText("<!-- nothing to see here -->")
+        }
+    extension.cliPath.set("fake-cli.sh")
+    extension.reactRoot.set(project.projectDir + "/react-root")
+
+    val actual = detectedCliPath(project.projectDir, extension)
+
+    assertEquals(expected.toString(), actual)
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  fun detectedCliPath_withCliPathFromExtensionInProjectFolder() {
+    val project = ProjectBuilder.builder().build()
+    val extension = TestReactExtension(project)
+    val expected =
+        File(project.projectDir, "fake-cli.sh").apply {
+          parentFile.mkdirs()
+          writeText("<!-- nothing to see here -->")
+        }
     extension.cliPath.set("fake-cli.sh")
 
     val actual = detectedCliPath(project.projectDir, extension)
diff --git a/react.gradle b/react.gradle
index 047560a998fc57..0283a18e73bb7a 100644
--- a/react.gradle
+++ b/react.gradle
@@ -22,20 +22,6 @@ def detectEntryFile(config) {
     return "index.js";
 }
 
-/**
- * Detects CLI location in a similar fashion to the React Native CLI
- */
-def detectCliPath(config) {
-    if (config.cliPath) {
-        return "${projectDir}/${config.cliPath}"
-    }
-    if (new File("${projectDir}/../../node_modules/react-native/cli.js").exists()) {
-        return "${projectDir}/../../node_modules/react-native/cli.js"
-    }
-    throw new Exception("Couldn't determine CLI location. " +
-             "Please set `project.ext.react.cliPath` to the path of the react-native cli.js file. This file typically resides in `node_modules/react-native/cli.js`");
-}
-
 def composeSourceMapsPath = config.composeSourceMapsPath ?: "node_modules/react-native/scripts/compose-source-maps.js"
 def bundleAssetName = config.bundleAssetName ?: "index.android.bundle"
 def entryFile = detectEntryFile(config)
@@ -46,6 +32,43 @@ def bundleConfig = config.bundleConfig ? "${reactRoot}/${config.bundleConfig}" :
 def enableVmCleanup = config.enableVmCleanup == null ? true : config.enableVmCleanup
 def hermesCommand = config.hermesCommand ?: "../../node_modules/hermes-engine/%OS-BIN%/hermesc"
 
+/**
+ * Detects CLI location in a similar fashion to the React Native CLI
+ */
+def detectCliPath(config, reactRoot) {
+    // 1. preconfigured path
+    if (config.cliPath) {
+        def cliJsAbsolute = new File(config.cliPath)
+        if (cliJsAbsolute.exists()) {
+            return cliJsAbsolute.getAbsolutePath()
+        }
+        def cliJsRelativeToRoot = new File("${rootDir}/${config.cliPath}")
+        if (cliJsRelativeToRoot.exists()) {
+            return cliJsRelativeToRoot.getAbsolutePath()
+        }
+        def cliJsRelativeToProject = new File("${projectDir}/${config.cliPath}")
+        if (cliJsRelativeToProject.exists()) {
+            return cliJsRelativeToProject.getAbsolutePath()
+        }
+    }
+
+    // 2. node module path
+    def cliJsFromNode = new File(["node", "--print", "require.resolve('react-native/cli').bin"].execute(null, rootDir).text.trim())
+    if (cliJsFromNode.exists()) {
+        return cliJsFromNode.getAbsolutePath()
+    }
+
+    // 3. cli.js in the root folder
+    def rootCliJs = new File(reactRoot, "node_modules/react-native/cli.js")
+    if (rootCliJs.exists()) {
+        return rootCliJs.getAbsolutePath()
+    }
+
+    throw new Exception("Couldn't determine CLI location. " +
+             "Please set `project.ext.react.cliPath` to the path of the react-native cli.js file. " +
+             "This file typically resides in `node_modules/react-native/cli.js`");
+}
+
 def reactNativeDevServerPort() {
     def value = project.getProperties().get("reactNativeDevServerPort")
     return value != null ? value : "8081"
@@ -164,7 +187,7 @@ afterEvaluate {
 
         // Additional node and packager commandline arguments
         def nodeExecutableAndArgs = config.nodeExecutableAndArgs ?: ["node"]
-        def cliPath = detectCliPath(config)
+        def cliPath = detectCliPath(config, reactRoot)
 
         def execCommand = []