diff --git a/packages/angular/build/src/builders/dev-server/options.ts b/packages/angular/build/src/builders/dev-server/options.ts
index 080e168699bc..e342416e0695 100644
--- a/packages/angular/build/src/builders/dev-server/options.ts
+++ b/packages/angular/build/src/builders/dev-server/options.ts
@@ -36,8 +36,10 @@ export async function normalizeOptions(
 
   const cacheOptions = normalizeCacheOptions(projectMetadata, workspaceRoot);
 
-  // Target specifier defaults to the current project's build target using a development configuration
-  const buildTargetSpecifier = options.buildTarget ?? `::development`;
+  // Target specifier defaults to the current project's build target using the provided dev-server
+  // configuration if a configuration is present or the 'development' configuration if not.
+  const buildTargetSpecifier =
+    options.buildTarget ?? `::${context.target?.configuration || 'development'}`;
   const buildTarget = targetFromTargetString(buildTargetSpecifier, projectName, 'build');
 
   // Get the application builder options.
diff --git a/packages/angular/build/src/builders/dev-server/schema.json b/packages/angular/build/src/builders/dev-server/schema.json
index 3adce45eb71a..8bc0fc4dc4ff 100644
--- a/packages/angular/build/src/builders/dev-server/schema.json
+++ b/packages/angular/build/src/builders/dev-server/schema.json
@@ -111,5 +111,5 @@
     }
   },
   "additionalProperties": false,
-  "required": ["buildTarget"]
+  "required": []
 }