diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-utils/src/constants.ts b/packages/docusaurus-utils/src/constants.ts
index 0b413e6f4182..a9a91394f48c 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-utils/src/constants.ts
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-utils/src/constants.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@ export const NODE_MINOR_VERSION = parseInt(
   10,
 );
 
+/** Docusaurus core version. */
+// eslint-disable-next-line global-require, @typescript-eslint/no-var-requires
+export const DOCUSAURUS_VERSION = require('../package.json').version;
+
 /**
  * Can be overridden with cli option `--out-dir`. Code should generally use
  * `context.outDir` instead (which is always absolute and localized).
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus-utils/src/index.ts b/packages/docusaurus-utils/src/index.ts
index 575f67e62920..07ff78dc98c4 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus-utils/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/docusaurus-utils/src/index.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 export {
   NODE_MAJOR_VERSION,
   NODE_MINOR_VERSION,
+  DOCUSAURUS_VERSION,
   DEFAULT_BUILD_DIR_NAME,
   DEFAULT_CONFIG_FILE_NAME,
   BABEL_CONFIG_FILE_NAME,
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus/bin/beforeCli.mjs b/packages/docusaurus/bin/beforeCli.mjs
index 53c5ee9e84d3..5df4d965ee79 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus/bin/beforeCli.mjs
+++ b/packages/docusaurus/bin/beforeCli.mjs
@@ -14,15 +14,21 @@ import path from 'path';
 import updateNotifier from 'update-notifier';
 import boxen from 'boxen';
 import {createRequire} from 'module';
+import {DOCUSAURUS_VERSION} from '@docusaurus/utils';
 
 const packageJson = createRequire(import.meta.url)('../package.json');
-const sitePkg = createRequire(path.join(process.cwd(), 'package.json'))(
-  './package.json',
-);
+/** @type {Record<string, any>} */
+let sitePkg;
+try {
+  sitePkg = createRequire(path.resolve('package.json'))('./package.json');
+} catch {
+  logger.warn`path=${'package.json'} file not found at CWD: path=${process.cwd()}.`;
+  logger.info`This is non-critical, but could lead to undesired behavior downstream. Docusaurus assumes that path=${'package.json'} exists at CWD, because it's where the package manager looks up the script at. A common reason is because you have changed directory in the script. Instead of writing code=${'"start": "cd website && docusaurus start"'}, consider using the code=${'[siteDir]'} argument: code=${'"start": "docusaurus start website"'}.`;
+  sitePkg = {};
+}
 
 const {
   name,
-  version,
   engines: {node: requiredVersion},
 } = packageJson;
 
@@ -40,7 +46,7 @@ export default async function beforeCli() {
   const notifier = updateNotifier({
     pkg: {
       name,
-      version,
+      version: DOCUSAURUS_VERSION,
     },
     // Check is in background so it's fine to use a small value like 1h
     // Use 0 for debugging
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus/bin/docusaurus.mjs b/packages/docusaurus/bin/docusaurus.mjs
index eee4fc9919e9..d8b6a418c80b 100755
--- a/packages/docusaurus/bin/docusaurus.mjs
+++ b/packages/docusaurus/bin/docusaurus.mjs
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 import logger from '@docusaurus/logger';
 import fs from 'fs-extra';
 import cli from 'commander';
-import {createRequire} from 'module';
+import {DOCUSAURUS_VERSION} from '@docusaurus/utils';
 import {
   build,
   swizzle,
@@ -29,9 +29,7 @@ await beforeCli();
 
 const resolveDir = (dir = '.') => fs.realpath(dir);
 
-cli
-  .version(createRequire(import.meta.url)('../package.json').version)
-  .usage('<command> [options]');
+cli.version(DOCUSAURUS_VERSION).usage('<command> [options]');
 
 cli
   .command('build [siteDir]')
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus/src/client/serverEntry.tsx b/packages/docusaurus/src/client/serverEntry.tsx
index 4ff192881b5f..4c9bf0241cd1 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus/src/client/serverEntry.tsx
+++ b/packages/docusaurus/src/client/serverEntry.tsx
@@ -26,9 +26,7 @@ import logger from '@docusaurus/logger';
 // eslint-disable-next-line no-restricted-imports
 import _ from 'lodash';
 import type {Locals} from '@slorber/static-site-generator-webpack-plugin';
-
-// eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-var-requires
-const packageJson = require('../../package.json');
+import {DOCUSAURUS_VERSION} from '@docusaurus/utils';
 
 const getCompiledSSRTemplate = _.memoize((template: string) =>
   eta.compile(template.trim(), {
@@ -132,7 +130,7 @@ async function doRender(locals: Locals & {path: string}) {
     scripts,
     stylesheets,
     noIndex,
-    version: packageJson.version,
+    version: DOCUSAURUS_VERSION,
   });
 
   try {
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus/src/server/siteMetadata.ts b/packages/docusaurus/src/server/siteMetadata.ts
index ec855f94d57b..bde32ad967c3 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus/src/server/siteMetadata.ts
+++ b/packages/docusaurus/src/server/siteMetadata.ts
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import type {
   PluginVersionInformation,
   SiteMetadata,
 } from '@docusaurus/types';
+import {DOCUSAURUS_VERSION} from '@docusaurus/utils';
 import fs from 'fs-extra';
 import path from 'path';
 import logger from '@docusaurus/logger';
@@ -98,9 +99,7 @@ export async function loadSiteMetadata({
   siteDir: string;
 }): Promise<SiteMetadata> {
   const siteMetadata: SiteMetadata = {
-    docusaurusVersion: (await getPackageJsonVersion(
-      path.join(__dirname, '../../package.json'),
-    ))!,
+    docusaurusVersion: DOCUSAURUS_VERSION,
     siteVersion: await getPackageJsonVersion(
       path.join(siteDir, 'package.json'),
     ),