diff --git a/packages/react-native/Libraries/Core/InitializeCore.js b/packages/react-native/Libraries/Core/InitializeCore.js
index 8846ce4dea5..a53aedfe899 100644
--- a/packages/react-native/Libraries/Core/InitializeCore.js
+++ b/packages/react-native/Libraries/Core/InitializeCore.js
@@ -27,4 +27,11 @@
 
 'use strict';
 
-require('../../src/private/setup/setUpDefaultReactNativeEnvironment').default();
+// NOTE: This delegates to the `'react-native/setup-env'` entry point (rather
+// than calling `setUpDefaultReactNativeEnvironment` directly) so that
+// `src/setup-env.js` is pulled into the module graph. Metro's
+// `getModulesRunBeforeMainModule` only runs modules that are already part of
+// the bundle, and `InitializeCore` is a guaranteed graph entry (via
+// `ReactNativePrivateInitializeCore`). This keeps `'react-native/setup-env'`
+// reachable so it runs before the main module.
+require('../../src/setup-env');