diff --git a/packages/cli/commands/project/dev.js b/packages/cli/commands/project/dev.js
index ff638939d..3d2ebb3a0 100644
--- a/packages/cli/commands/project/dev.js
+++ b/packages/cli/commands/project/dev.js
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ const {
   handleProjectUpload,
   pollProjectBuildAndDeploy,
   showPlatformVersionWarning,
+  validateProjectConfig,
 } = require('../../lib/projects');
 const { EXIT_CODES } = require('../../lib/enums/exitCodes');
 const {
@@ -87,6 +88,8 @@ exports.handler = async options => {
     process.exit(EXIT_CODES.ERROR);
   }
 
+  validateProjectConfig(projectConfig, projectDir);
+
   const accounts = getConfigAccounts();
   let targetAccountId = options.account ? accountId : null;
   let createNewSandbox = false;
diff --git a/packages/cli/lang/en.lyaml b/packages/cli/lang/en.lyaml
index e8d7f3262..9606e7e96 100644
--- a/packages/cli/lang/en.lyaml
+++ b/packages/cli/lang/en.lyaml
@@ -918,7 +918,7 @@ en:
           fileChangeError: "Failed to notify local dev server of file change: {{ message }}"
       projects:
         config:
-          srcOutsideProjectDir: "Project source directory '{{ srcDir }}' should be contained within '{{ projectDir }}'"
+          srcOutsideProjectDir: "Invalid line in {{ projectConfig}}: {{#bold}}srcDir: \"{{ srcDir }}\"{{/bold}}\n\t`srcDir` should be a relative path to a directory within {{ projectDir }}, such as \".\" or \"./src\""
         uploadProjectFiles:
           add: "Uploading {{#bold}}{{ projectName }}{{/bold}} project files to {{ accountIdentifier }}"
           fail: "Failed to upload {{#bold}}{{ projectName }}{{/bold}} project files to {{ accountIdentifier }}"
diff --git a/packages/cli/lib/projects.js b/packages/cli/lib/projects.js
index a850c5c88..9539fd49e 100644
--- a/packages/cli/lib/projects.js
+++ b/packages/cli/lib/projects.js
@@ -171,10 +171,15 @@ const validateProjectConfig = (projectConfig, projectDir) => {
 
   const resolvedPath = path.resolve(projectDir, projectConfig.srcDir);
   if (!resolvedPath.startsWith(projectDir)) {
+    const projectConfigFile = path.relative(
+      '.',
+      path.join(projectDir, PROJECT_CONFIG_FILE)
+    );
     logger.error(
       i18n(`${i18nKey}.config.srcOutsideProjectDir`, {
         srcDir: projectConfig.srcDir,
         projectDir,
+        projectConfig: projectConfigFile,
       })
     );
     return process.exit(EXIT_CODES.ERROR);