diff --git a/local-cli/server/util/attachHMRServer.js b/local-cli/server/util/attachHMRServer.js
index 81d186ef7..dd22f5303 100644
--- a/local-cli/server/util/attachHMRServer.js
+++ b/local-cli/server/util/attachHMRServer.js
@@ -113,6 +113,10 @@ function attachHMRServer({httpServer, path, packagerServer}) {
 
           return packagerServer.getShallowDependencies(filename)
             .then(deps => {
+              if (!client) {
+                return [];
+              }
+
               // if the file dependencies have change we need to invalidate the
               // dependencies caches because the list of files we need to send
               // to the client may have changed
@@ -129,6 +133,10 @@ function attachHMRServer({httpServer, path, packagerServer}) {
                   dependenciesModulesCache,
                   shallowDependencies,
                 }) => {
+                  if (!client) {
+                    return [];
+                  }
+
                   // build list of modules for which we'll send HMR updates
                   const modulesToUpdate = [];
                   Object.keys(dependenciesModulesCache).forEach(module => {
@@ -146,6 +154,10 @@ function attachHMRServer({httpServer, path, packagerServer}) {
                 });
             })
             .then(modulesToUpdate => {
+              if (!client) {
+                return;
+              }
+
               // make sure the file was modified is part of the bundle
               if (!client.shallowDependencies[filename]) {
                 return;
@@ -158,6 +170,11 @@ function attachHMRServer({httpServer, path, packagerServer}) {
               });
             })
             .then(bundle => {
+              if (!client) {
+                return;
+              }
+
+              // check we actually want to send an HMR update
               if (bundle) {
                 client.ws.send(bundle);
               }