diff --git a/packages/react-native/ReactCxxPlatform/react/devsupport/PackagerConnection.cpp b/packages/react-native/ReactCxxPlatform/react/devsupport/PackagerConnection.cpp
index 05676162f68f..21cd74ca1489 100644
--- a/packages/react-native/ReactCxxPlatform/react/devsupport/PackagerConnection.cpp
+++ b/packages/react-native/ReactCxxPlatform/react/devsupport/PackagerConnection.cpp
@@ -9,22 +9,40 @@
 
 #include <glog/logging.h>
 #include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
-#include <utility>
 
 namespace facebook::react {
 
 PackagerConnection::PackagerConnection(
-    const WebSocketClientFactory& webSocketClientFactory,
-    const std::string& packagerConnectionUrl,
+    WebSocketClientFactory webSocketClientFactory,
+    std::string packagerConnectionUrl,
     LiveReloadCallback&& liveReloadCallback,
     ShowDevMenuCallback&& showDevMenuCallback)
-    : liveReloadCallback_(std::move(liveReloadCallback)),
+    : webSocketClientFactory_(std::move(webSocketClientFactory)),
+      packagerConnectionUrl_(std::move(packagerConnectionUrl)),
+      liveReloadCallback_(std::move(liveReloadCallback)),
       showDevMenuCallback_(std::move(showDevMenuCallback)) {
-  websocket_ = webSocketClientFactory();
+  attemptConnection();
+}
+
+PackagerConnection::~PackagerConnection() noexcept {
+  reconnectThread_.quit();
+  if (websocket_) {
+    websocket_->setOnClosedCallback(nullptr);
+    websocket_->setOnMessageCallback(nullptr);
+    websocket_->close("PackagerConnection destroyed");
+  }
+}
+
+void PackagerConnection::attemptConnection() {
+  if (websocket_) {
+    websocket_->setOnClosedCallback(nullptr);
+    websocket_->close("reconnecting");
+  }
+  websocket_ = webSocketClientFactory_();
   websocket_->setOnMessageCallback([this](const std::string& message) {
     LOG(INFO) << "Received message from packager: " << message;
-    auto json = nlohmann::json::parse(message);
-    if (json.is_null() || json["version"] != 2) {
+    auto json = nlohmann::json::parse(message, nullptr, false);
+    if (json.is_discarded() || json.is_null() || json["version"] != 2) {
       return;
     }
     auto method = json["method"];
@@ -34,11 +52,38 @@ PackagerConnection::PackagerConnection(
       showDevMenuCallback_();
     }
   });
-  websocket_->connect(packagerConnectionUrl);
+  websocket_->setOnClosedCallback([this](const std::string& reason) {
+    LOG(INFO) << "PackagerConnection closed: " << reason;
+    scheduleReconnect();
+  });
+  websocket_->connect(
+      packagerConnectionUrl_,
+      [this](bool success, const std::string& /*error*/) {
+        if (success) {
+          if (!isInitialConnection_) {
+            LOG(INFO)
+                << "PackagerConnection connected to Metro - triggering live reload";
+            liveReloadCallback_();
+          } else {
+            LOG(INFO) << "PackagerConnection connected to Metro";
+          }
+          isInitialConnection_ = false;
+        } else {
+          scheduleReconnect();
+        }
+      });
 }
 
-PackagerConnection::~PackagerConnection() noexcept {
-  websocket_->close("PackagerConnection destroyed");
+void PackagerConnection::scheduleReconnect() {
+  if (reconnectPending_.exchange(true)) {
+    return;
+  }
+  reconnectThread_.runAsync(
+      [this]() {
+        reconnectPending_ = false;
+        attemptConnection();
+      },
+      std::chrono::milliseconds(5000));
 }
 
 } // namespace facebook::react
diff --git a/packages/react-native/ReactCxxPlatform/react/devsupport/PackagerConnection.h b/packages/react-native/ReactCxxPlatform/react/devsupport/PackagerConnection.h
index eee5149fd438..7e1596c0f2ba 100644
--- a/packages/react-native/ReactCxxPlatform/react/devsupport/PackagerConnection.h
+++ b/packages/react-native/ReactCxxPlatform/react/devsupport/PackagerConnection.h
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 #pragma once
 
 #include <react/http/IWebSocketClient.h>
+#include <react/threading/TaskDispatchThread.h>
+#include <atomic>
 #include <functional>
 #include <memory>
 #include <string>
@@ -20,8 +22,8 @@ class PackagerConnection {
 
  public:
   PackagerConnection(
-      const WebSocketClientFactory &webSocketClientFactory,
-      const std::string &packagerConnectionUrl,
+      WebSocketClientFactory webSocketClientFactory,
+      std::string packagerConnectionUrl,
       LiveReloadCallback &&liveReloadCallback,
       ShowDevMenuCallback &&showDevMenuCallback);
   ~PackagerConnection() noexcept;
@@ -31,9 +33,17 @@ class PackagerConnection {
   PackagerConnection &operator=(PackagerConnection &&other) = delete;
 
  private:
+  void attemptConnection();
+  void scheduleReconnect();
+
+  const WebSocketClientFactory webSocketClientFactory_;
+  const std::string packagerConnectionUrl_;
   const LiveReloadCallback liveReloadCallback_;
   const ShowDevMenuCallback showDevMenuCallback_;
   std::unique_ptr<IWebSocketClient> websocket_;
+  std::atomic<bool> isInitialConnection_{true};
+  std::atomic<bool> reconnectPending_{false};
+  TaskDispatchThread reconnectThread_{"PackagerReconnect"};
 };
 
 } // namespace facebook::react