diff --git a/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/cli/error-handler.ts b/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/cli/error-handler.ts
index d7bba907b6..5663be25c5 100644
--- a/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/cli/error-handler.ts
+++ b/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/cli/error-handler.ts
@@ -71,6 +71,12 @@ export function printErrorMessages(
   shouldShowStackTraces: boolean = false,
   print: (message: string) => void = console.error,
 ): void {
+  // If Hardhat is running on CJS mode we print a special message
+  if (isRequireESMError(error)) {
+    printEsmOnlyErrorMessage(print);
+    return;
+  }
+
   const showStackTraces =
     shouldShowStackTraces ||
     getErrorWithCategory(error).category === ErrorCategory.OTHER;
@@ -151,3 +157,18 @@ function getErrorMessages(error: unknown): ErrorMessages {
       };
   }
 }
+
+function isRequireESMError(error: unknown): boolean {
+  return (
+    error instanceof Error &&
+    "code" in error &&
+    error.code === "ERR_REQUIRE_CYCLE_MODULE" &&
+    error.message.includes("Cannot require() ES Module")
+  );
+}
+
+function printEsmOnlyErrorMessage(print: (message: string) => void) {
+  print(`Hardhat only supports ESM projects.
+
+Please make sure you have \`"type": "module"\` in your package.json`);
+}
diff --git a/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/cli/init/init.ts b/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/cli/init/init.ts
index 608b4251e7..867a057cd7 100644
--- a/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/cli/init/init.ts
+++ b/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/cli/init/init.ts
@@ -17,10 +17,7 @@ import { resolveFromRoot } from "@ignored/hardhat-vnext-utils/path";
 import chalk from "chalk";
 
 import { findClosestHardhatConfig } from "../../config-loading.js";
-import {
-  getHardhatVersion,
-  getLatestHardhatVersion,
-} from "../../utils/package.js";
+import { getHardhatVersion } from "../../utils/package.js";
 
 import { HARDHAT_NAME } from "./constants.js";
 import {
@@ -134,23 +131,24 @@ export async function printWelcomeMessage(): Promise<void> {
     chalk.cyan(`👷 Welcome to ${HARDHAT_NAME} v${hardhatVersion} 👷\n`),
   );
 
-  // Warn the user if they are using an outdated version of Hardhat
-  try {
-    const latestHardhatVersion = await getLatestHardhatVersion();
-    if (hardhatVersion !== latestHardhatVersion) {
-      console.warn(
-        chalk.yellow.bold(
-          `⚠️ You are using an outdated version of Hardhat. The latest version is v${latestHardhatVersion}. Please consider upgrading to the latest version before continuing with the project initialization. ⚠️\n`,
-        ),
-      );
-    }
-  } catch (e) {
-    console.warn(
-      chalk.yellow.bold(
-        `⚠️ We couldn't check if you are using the latest version of Hardhat. Please consider upgrading to the latest version if you are not using it yet. ⚠️\n`,
-      ),
-    );
-  }
+  // TODO: Disabled this until the first release of v3
+  // // Warn the user if they are using an outdated version of Hardhat
+  // try {
+  //   const latestHardhatVersion = await getLatestHardhatVersion();
+  //   if (hardhatVersion !== latestHardhatVersion) {
+  //     console.warn(
+  //       chalk.yellow.bold(
+  //         `⚠️ You are using an outdated version of Hardhat. The latest version is v${latestHardhatVersion}. Please consider upgrading to the latest version before continuing with the project initialization. ⚠️\n`,
+  //       ),
+  //     );
+  //   }
+  // } catch (e) {
+  //   console.warn(
+  //     chalk.yellow.bold(
+  //       `⚠️ We couldn't check if you are using the latest version of Hardhat. Please consider upgrading to the latest version if you are not using it yet. ⚠️\n`,
+  //     ),
+  //   );
+  // }
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/cli/main.ts b/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/cli/main.ts
index 8a285a45a6..532eb42e1c 100644
--- a/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/cli/main.ts
+++ b/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/cli/main.ts
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import { createHardhatRuntimeEnvironment } from "../hre-intialization.js";
 import { printErrorMessages } from "./error-handler.js";
 import { getGlobalHelpString } from "./helpers/getGlobalHelpString.js";
 import { getHelpString } from "./helpers/getHelpString.js";
+import { printNodeJsVersionWarningIfNecessary } from "./node-version.js";
 import { ensureTelemetryConsent } from "./telemetry/telemetry-permissions.js";
 import { printVersionMessage } from "./version.js";
 
@@ -50,6 +51,8 @@ export async function main(
 ): Promise<void> {
   const print = options.print ?? console.log;
 
+  printNodeJsVersionWarningIfNecessary(print);
+
   const log = debug("hardhat:core:cli:main");
 
   let builtinGlobalOptions;
@@ -176,6 +179,8 @@ export async function main(
     if (options.rethrowErrors) {
       throw error;
     }
+
+    process.exitCode = 1;
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/cli/node-version.ts b/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/cli/node-version.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..87a21f474b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/cli/node-version.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+// NOTE: We don't use the `semver` package because it's slow to load, and this
+// is always run during the initialization of the CLI.
+
+import chalk from "chalk";
+
+const MIN_SUPPORTED_NODE_VERSION = [22, 10, 0];
+
+function isNodeVersionSupported(): boolean {
+  try {
+    const [majorStr, minorStr, patchStr] = process.versions.node.split(".");
+
+    const major = parseInt(majorStr, 10);
+    const minor = parseInt(minorStr, 10);
+    const patch = parseInt(patchStr, 10);
+
+    if (major < MIN_SUPPORTED_NODE_VERSION[0]) {
+      return false;
+    }
+
+    if (minor < MIN_SUPPORTED_NODE_VERSION[1]) {
+      return false;
+    }
+
+    if (patch < MIN_SUPPORTED_NODE_VERSION[2]) {
+      return false;
+    }
+  } catch {
+    // If our parsing of the version fails we assume it's supported.
+    return true;
+  }
+
+  return true;
+}
+
+export function printNodeJsVersionWarningIfNecessary(
+  print: (message: string) => void,
+): void {
+  if (isNodeVersionSupported()) {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  print("");
+  print(
+    chalk.bold(`${chalk.yellow("WARNING:")} You are using Node.js ${process.versions.node} which is not supported by Hardhat.
+Please upgrade to ${MIN_SUPPORTED_NODE_VERSION.join(".")} or a later version.`),
+  );
+  print("");
+}