diff --git a/.eslintrc.js b/.eslintrc.js
index 8d970843a5720d..19ba7cacc3c44e 100644
--- a/.eslintrc.js
+++ b/.eslintrc.js
@@ -424,8 +424,6 @@ module.exports = {
                   '!src/core/server/mocks{,.ts}',
                   '!src/core/server/types{,.ts}',
                   '!src/core/server/test_utils{,.ts}',
-                  '!src/core/server/utils', // ts alias
-                  '!src/core/server/utils/**/*',
                   // for absolute imports until fixed in
                   // https://github.com/elastic/kibana/issues/36096
                   '!src/core/server/*.test.mocks{,.ts}',
diff --git a/packages/kbn-utils/src/package_json/index.ts b/packages/kbn-utils/src/package_json/index.ts
index 1d8795d61288d5..d9304cee2ca386 100644
--- a/packages/kbn-utils/src/package_json/index.ts
+++ b/packages/kbn-utils/src/package_json/index.ts
@@ -15,5 +15,6 @@ export const kibanaPackageJson = {
   ...require(resolve(REPO_ROOT, 'package.json')),
 };
 
-export const IS_KIBANA_DISTRIBUTABLE =
-  kibanaPackageJson.build && kibanaPackageJson.build.distributable === true;
+export const isKibanaDistributable = () => {
+  return kibanaPackageJson.build && kibanaPackageJson.build.distributable === true;
+};
diff --git a/src/cli/serve/serve.js b/src/cli/serve/serve.js
index b0441a9535515e..ad83965efde338 100644
--- a/src/cli/serve/serve.js
+++ b/src/cli/serve/serve.js
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import { statSync } from 'fs';
 import { resolve } from 'path';
 import url from 'url';
 
-import { getConfigPath, fromRoot, IS_KIBANA_DISTRIBUTABLE } from '@kbn/utils';
+import { getConfigPath, fromRoot, isKibanaDistributable } from '@kbn/utils';
 import { readKeystore } from '../keystore/read_keystore';
 
 function canRequire(path) {
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ export default function (program) {
     .option('--plugins <path>', 'an alias for --plugin-dir', pluginDirCollector)
     .option('--optimize', 'Deprecated, running the optimizer is no longer required');
 
-  if (!IS_KIBANA_DISTRIBUTABLE) {
+  if (!isKibanaDistributable()) {
     command
       .option('--oss', 'Start Kibana without X-Pack')
       .option(