diff --git a/packages/serve/src/parseArgs.ts b/packages/serve/src/parseArgs.ts
index 645473870cd..dc90ed969f4 100644
--- a/packages/serve/src/parseArgs.ts
+++ b/packages/serve/src/parseArgs.ts
@@ -23,8 +23,13 @@ type ArgsType = {
  * @returns {Object} parsed webpack args and dev server args objects
  */
 export default function parseArgs(cli: WebpackCLIType, args: string[]): ArgsType {
-    // eslint-disable-next-line node/no-extraneous-require
-    const devServerFlags = require('webpack-dev-server/bin/cli-flags').devServer;
+    let devServerFlags;
+    try {
+        // eslint-disable-next-line node/no-extraneous-require
+        devServerFlags = require('webpack-dev-server/bin/cli-flags').devServer;
+    } catch (err) {
+        throw new Error(`You need to install 'webpack-dev-server' for running 'webpack serve'.\n${err}`);
+    }
 
     const core = cli.getCoreFlags();