diff --git a/packages/vscode-extension/lib/expo_start.js b/packages/vscode-extension/lib/expo_start.js
index 45130ec7c..4111a69e6 100644
--- a/packages/vscode-extension/lib/expo_start.js
+++ b/packages/vscode-extension/lib/expo_start.js
@@ -17,10 +17,5 @@ metroConfig.loadConfig = async function (...args) {
 // base terminal reporter class from metro that Expo CLI extends
 overrideModuleFromAppDir("metro/src/lib/TerminalReporter", require("./metro_reporter"));
 
-// In addition, expo uses freeport-async to check whether provided port is busy.
-// Apparently, this module returns 11000 port when 0 is provided, so we need to
-// override this behavior here.
-overrideModuleFromAppDir("freeport-async", async (port) => port);
-
 const { expoStart } = requireFromAppDir("@expo/cli/build/src/start/index");
 expoStart(process.argv.slice(2)); // pass argv but strip node and script name
diff --git a/packages/vscode-extension/lib/metro_helpers.js b/packages/vscode-extension/lib/metro_helpers.js
index e7dff5536..b3cf3660a 100644
--- a/packages/vscode-extension/lib/metro_helpers.js
+++ b/packages/vscode-extension/lib/metro_helpers.js
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ const appRoot = path.resolve();
 // Instead of using require in this code, we should use require_app, which will
 // resolve modules relative to the app root, not the extension lib root.
 function requireFromAppDir(module) {
+  // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-shadow
   const path = require.resolve(module, { paths: [appRoot] });
   return require(path);
 }
@@ -59,10 +60,6 @@ function adaptMetroConfig(config) {
     return origProcessModuleFilter(module);
   };
 
-  // We actually need to reset port number here again, because CLI overrides it
-  // thinking that value 0 means "use default port".
-  config.server.port = 0;
-
   config.watchFolders = [...(config.watchFolders || []), extensionLib];
 
   // Handle the case when resolver is not defined in the config
@@ -172,31 +169,6 @@ function adaptMetroConfig(config) {
   return config;
 }
 
-// An ugly workaround for packager script to print actual port number.
-// Since we want to start packager on ephemeral port, we need to know the actual port number.
-// Apparently, metro only reports port provided to the config, which will be 0.
-// This workaround overrides http server prototype and prints the port number along
-// with setting some env variables specific to expo that are populated with "0" port as well.
-function patchHttpListen() {
-  const http = require("http");
-  const originalListen = http.Server.prototype.listen;
-
-  http.Server.prototype.listen = function (...args) {
-    const server = this;
-    originalListen.apply(server, args);
-    server.on("listening", () => {
-      const port = server.address().port;
-      process.env.EXPO_PACKAGER_PROXY_URL =
-        process.env.EXPO_MANIFEST_PROXY_URL = `http://localhost:${port}`;
-      process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify({ type: "RNIDE_initialize_done", port }));
-      process.stdout.write("\n");
-    });
-    return server;
-  };
-}
-
-patchHttpListen();
-
 module.exports = {
   appRoot,
   adaptMetroConfig,
diff --git a/packages/vscode-extension/src/project/metro.ts b/packages/vscode-extension/src/project/metro.ts
index 0c7aca8b4..59671dd6b 100644
--- a/packages/vscode-extension/src/project/metro.ts
+++ b/packages/vscode-extension/src/project/metro.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import { Devtools } from "./devtools";
 import { getLaunchConfiguration } from "../utilities/launchConfiguration";
 import { EXPO_GO_BUNDLE_ID, EXPO_GO_PACKAGE_NAME } from "../builders/expoGo";
 import { connectCDPAndEval } from "../utilities/connectCDPAndEval";
+import { getOpenPort } from "../utilities/common";
 
 export interface MetroDelegate {
   onBundleError(): void;
@@ -50,7 +51,7 @@ type MetroEvent =
     }
   | { type: "RNIDE_expo_env_prelude_lines"; lineCount: number }
   | {
-      type: "RNIDE_initialize_done";
+      type: "initialize_done";
       port: number;
     }
   | {
@@ -160,6 +161,7 @@ export class Metro implements Disposable {
 
   private launchPackager(
     appRootFolder: string,
+    port: number,
     libPath: string,
     resetCache: boolean,
     metroEnv: typeof process.env
@@ -175,7 +177,7 @@ export class Metro implements Disposable {
         ...(resetCache ? ["--reset-cache"] : []),
         "--no-interactive",
         "--port",
-        "0",
+        `${port}`,
         "--config",
         path.join(libPath, "metro_config.js"),
         "--customLogReporterPath",
@@ -204,11 +206,14 @@ export class Metro implements Disposable {
       metroConfigPath = findCustomMetroConfig(launchConfiguration.metroConfigPath);
     }
     const isExtensionDev = extensionContext.extensionMode === ExtensionMode.Development;
+
+    const port = await getOpenPort();
+
     const metroEnv = {
       ...launchConfiguration.env,
       ...(metroConfigPath ? { RN_IDE_METRO_CONFIG_PATH: metroConfigPath } : {}),
       NODE_PATH: path.join(appRoot, "node_modules"),
-      RCT_METRO_PORT: "0",
+      RCT_METRO_PORT: `${port}`,
       RCT_DEVTOOLS_PORT: this.devtools.port.toString(),
       RADON_IDE_LIB_PATH: libPath,
       RADON_IDE_VERSION: extensionContext.extension.packageJSON.version,
@@ -225,7 +230,7 @@ export class Metro implements Disposable {
         metroEnv
       );
     } else {
-      bundlerProcess = this.launchPackager(appRoot, libPath, resetCache, metroEnv);
+      bundlerProcess = this.launchPackager(appRoot, port, libPath, resetCache, metroEnv);
     }
     this.subprocess = bundlerProcess;
 
@@ -262,7 +267,7 @@ export class Metro implements Disposable {
               this._expoPreludeLineCount = event.lineCount;
               Logger.debug("Expo prelude line offset was set to: ", this._expoPreludeLineCount);
               break;
-            case "RNIDE_initialize_done":
+            case "initialize_done":
               this._port = event.port;
               Logger.info(`Metro started on port ${this._port}`);
               resolve();
diff --git a/packages/vscode-extension/src/utilities/common.ts b/packages/vscode-extension/src/utilities/common.ts
index fda1e129f..60bbfcd5c 100644
--- a/packages/vscode-extension/src/utilities/common.ts
+++ b/packages/vscode-extension/src/utilities/common.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import fs from "fs";
 import { createHash, Hash } from "crypto";
 import path, { join } from "path";
 import { finished } from "stream/promises";
+import { Server } from "net";
 import fetch from "node-fetch";
 
 export const ANDROID_FAIL_ERROR_MESSAGE = "Android failed.";
@@ -233,3 +234,32 @@ export async function calculateMD5(fsPath: string, hash: Hash = createHash("md5"
   }
   return hash;
 }
+
+export async function getOpenPort(): Promise<number> {
+  const { promise, resolve, reject } = Promise.withResolvers<number>();
+
+  const server = new Server().listen(0);
+
+  const onListening = () => {
+    const address = server.address();
+    if (!address || typeof address === "string") {
+      reject(new Error("Failed to reserve an open port"));
+      return;
+    }
+    const port = address.port;
+    server.close(() => {
+      resolve(port);
+    });
+  };
+  const onError = (err: unknown) => {
+    reject(err);
+  };
+
+  const unsubListening = server.once("listening", onListening);
+  const unsubError = server.once("error", onError);
+
+  return promise.finally(() => {
+    unsubListening.off("listening", onListening);
+    unsubError.off("error", onError);
+  });
+}