diff --git a/packages/next/shared/lib/router/router.ts b/packages/next/shared/lib/router/router.ts
index 6ffb6e0b619522c..c9c06916706fce6 100644
--- a/packages/next/shared/lib/router/router.ts
+++ b/packages/next/shared/lib/router/router.ts
@@ -2267,6 +2267,11 @@ export default class Router implements BaseRouter {
     asPath: string = url,
     options: PrefetchOptions = {}
   ): Promise<void> {
+    // Prefetch is not supported in development mode because it would trigger on-demand-entries
+    if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production') {
+      return
+    }
+
     if (typeof window !== 'undefined' && isBot(window.navigator.userAgent)) {
       // No prefetches for bots that render the link since they are typically navigating
       // links via the equivalent of a hard navigation and hence never utilize these
@@ -2361,11 +2366,6 @@ export default class Router implements BaseRouter {
       }
     }
 
-    // Prefetch is not supported in development mode because it would trigger on-demand-entries
-    if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production') {
-      return
-    }
-
     const data =
       process.env.__NEXT_MIDDLEWARE_PREFETCH === 'strict'
         ? ({} as any)