diff --git a/packages/cli-server-api/src/__tests__/statusPageMiddleware.test.ts b/packages/cli-server-api/src/__tests__/statusPageMiddleware.test.ts
index 3c783a948..3a785b256 100644
--- a/packages/cli-server-api/src/__tests__/statusPageMiddleware.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli-server-api/src/__tests__/statusPageMiddleware.test.ts
@@ -20,4 +20,23 @@ describe('statusPageMiddleware', () => {
     );
     expect(res.end).toHaveBeenCalledWith('packager-status:running');
   });
+
+  it('should set headers and end the response with invalid characters', () => {
+    process.cwd = () => '/привіт/path';
+
+    const res: http.ServerResponse = {
+      setHeader: jest.fn(),
+      end: jest.fn(),
+    } as any;
+
+    const mockReq: http.IncomingMessage = {} as any;
+    statusPageMiddleware(mockReq, res);
+
+    // We're strictly checking response here, because React Native is strongly depending on this response. Changing the response might be a breaking change.
+    expect(res.setHeader).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      'X-React-Native-Project-Root',
+      new URL(`file:///${process.cwd()}`).pathname.slice(1),
+    );
+    expect(res.end).toHaveBeenCalledWith('packager-status:running');
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/cli-server-api/src/statusPageMiddleware.ts b/packages/cli-server-api/src/statusPageMiddleware.ts
index 3e98f2b2b..b7d690752 100644
--- a/packages/cli-server-api/src/statusPageMiddleware.ts
+++ b/packages/cli-server-api/src/statusPageMiddleware.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ export default function statusPageMiddleware(
   _req: http.IncomingMessage,
   res: http.ServerResponse,
 ) {
-  res.setHeader('X-React-Native-Project-Root', process.cwd());
+  res.setHeader(
+    'X-React-Native-Project-Root',
+    new URL(`file:///${process.cwd()}`).pathname.slice(1),
+  );
   res.end('packager-status:running');
 }
diff --git a/packages/cli-tools/src/getNextPort.ts b/packages/cli-tools/src/getNextPort.ts
index 374fe13c7..be4a5a4d0 100644
--- a/packages/cli-tools/src/getNextPort.ts
+++ b/packages/cli-tools/src/getNextPort.ts
@@ -19,7 +19,10 @@ const getNextPort = async (port: number, root: string): Promise<Result> => {
 
   const isRunning = typeof result === 'object' && result.status === 'running';
 
-  if (isRunning && result.root === root) {
+  if (
+    isRunning &&
+    result.root === new URL(`file:///${root}`).pathname.slice(1)
+  ) {
     // Found running bundler for this project, so we do not need to start packager!
     start = false;
   } else if (isRunning || result === 'unrecognized') {