diff --git a/dev/breeze/src/airflow_breeze/commands/developer_commands.py b/dev/breeze/src/airflow_breeze/commands/developer_commands.py
index ceb6b701da224..71ab14516b6fa 100644
--- a/dev/breeze/src/airflow_breeze/commands/developer_commands.py
+++ b/dev/breeze/src/airflow_breeze/commands/developer_commands.py
@@ -635,7 +635,9 @@ def start_airflow(
             "[info]Detected WSL environment. Automatically enabled CHOKIDAR_USEPOLLING for hot reloading."
         )
 
+    perform_environment_checks(quiet=False)
     if use_airflow_version is None and not skip_assets_compilation:
+        assert_prek_installed()
         # Now with the /ui project, lets only do a static build of /www and focus on the /ui
         run_compile_ui_assets(dev=dev_mode, run_in_background=True, force_clean=False)
     airflow_constraints_reference = _determine_constraint_branch_used(
@@ -701,7 +703,6 @@ def start_airflow(
         use_uv=use_uv,
         uv_http_timeout=uv_http_timeout,
     )
-    perform_environment_checks(quiet=shell_params.quiet)
     rebuild_or_pull_ci_image_if_needed(command_params=shell_params)
     result = enter_shell(shell_params=shell_params)
     fix_ownership_using_docker()