diff --git a/src/Azure.Functions.Cli/Actions/HostActions/StartHostAction.cs b/src/Azure.Functions.Cli/Actions/HostActions/StartHostAction.cs
index 1488b9ae9..4260eba9b 100644
--- a/src/Azure.Functions.Cli/Actions/HostActions/StartHostAction.cs
+++ b/src/Azure.Functions.Cli/Actions/HostActions/StartHostAction.cs
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Options;
 using Newtonsoft.Json;
 using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;
+using Microsoft.Azure.WebJobs.Script.Description;
 
 namespace Azure.Functions.Cli.Actions.HostActions
 {
@@ -235,6 +236,7 @@ public override async Task RunAsync()
             await PreRunConditions();
             Utilities.PrintLogo();
             Utilities.PrintVersion();
+            ValidateHostJsonConfiguration();
 
             var settings = SelfHostWebHostSettingsFactory.Create(Environment.CurrentDirectory);
 
@@ -255,6 +257,21 @@ public override async Task RunAsync()
             await runTask;
         }
 
+        private void ValidateHostJsonConfiguration()
+        {
+            bool IsPreCompiledApp = IsPreCompiledFunctionApp();
+            var hostJsonPath = Path.Combine(Environment.CurrentDirectory, Constants.HostJsonFileName);
+            if (IsPreCompiledApp && !File.Exists(hostJsonPath))
+            {
+                throw new CliException($"Host.json file in missing. Please make sure host.json file is preset at {Environment.CurrentDirectory}");
+            }
+
+            if (IsPreCompiledApp && BundleConfigurationExists(hostJsonPath))
+            {
+                throw new CliException($"Extension bundle configuration should not be present for the function app with pre-compiled functions. Please remove extension bundle configuration from host.json: {Path.Combine(Environment.CurrentDirectory, "host.json")}");
+            }
+        }
+
         private async Task PreRunConditions()
         {
             if (GlobalCoreToolsSettings.CurrentWorkerRuntime == WorkerRuntime.python)
@@ -288,6 +305,33 @@ private async Task PreRunConditions()
             }
         }
 
+        private bool BundleConfigurationExists(string hostJsonPath)
+        {
+            var hostJson = FileSystemHelpers.ReadAllTextFromFile(hostJsonPath);
+            return hostJson.Contains(Constants.ExtensionBundleConfigPropertyName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
+        }
+
+        private bool IsPreCompiledFunctionApp()
+        {
+            bool isPrecompiled = false;
+            foreach (var directory in FileSystemHelpers.GetDirectories(Environment.CurrentDirectory))
+            {
+                var functionMetadataFile = Path.Combine(directory, Constants.FunctionJsonFileName);
+                if (File.Exists(functionMetadataFile))
+                {
+                    var functionMetadataFileContent = FileSystemHelpers.ReadAllTextFromFile(functionMetadataFile);
+                    var functionMetadata = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<FunctionMetadata>(functionMetadataFileContent);
+                    string extension = Path.GetExtension(functionMetadata?.ScriptFile)?.ToLowerInvariant().TrimStart('.');
+                    isPrecompiled = isPrecompiled || (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(extension) && extension == "dll");
+                }
+                if (isPrecompiled)
+                {
+                    break;
+                }
+            }
+            return isPrecompiled;
+        }
+
         private void DisplayDisabledFunctions(IScriptJobHost scriptHost)
         {
             if (scriptHost != null)
diff --git a/src/Azure.Functions.Cli/Common/Constants.cs b/src/Azure.Functions.Cli/Common/Constants.cs
index 89c5e9004..609e0c2f5 100644
--- a/src/Azure.Functions.Cli/Common/Constants.cs
+++ b/src/Azure.Functions.Cli/Common/Constants.cs
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ internal static class Constants
         public const string FunctionsWorkerRuntimeVersion = "FUNCTIONS_WORKER_RUNTIME_VERSION";
         public const string RequirementsTxt = "requirements.txt";
         public const string FunctionJsonFileName = "function.json";
+        public const string HostJsonFileName = "host.json";
         public const string ExtenstionsCsProjFile = "extensions.csproj";
         public const string DefaultVEnvName = "worker_env";
         public const string ExternalPythonPackages = ".python_packages";
@@ -44,6 +45,7 @@ internal static class Constants
         public const string TelemetrySentinelFile = "telemetryDefaultOn.sentinel";
         public const string DefaultManagementURL = "https://management.azure.com/";
         public const string AzureManagementAccessToken = "AZURE_MANAGEMENT_ACCESS_TOKEN";
+        public const string ExtensionBundleConfigPropertyName = "extensionBundle";
 
         public static string CliVersion => typeof(Constants).GetTypeInfo().Assembly.GetName().Version.ToString(3);
 
diff --git a/test/Azure.Functions.Cli.Tests/E2E/StartTests.cs b/test/Azure.Functions.Cli.Tests/E2E/StartTests.cs
index e99484685..eb2ee14c1 100644
--- a/test/Azure.Functions.Cli.Tests/E2E/StartTests.cs
+++ b/test/Azure.Functions.Cli.Tests/E2E/StartTests.cs
@@ -145,6 +145,76 @@ await CliTester.Run(new RunConfiguration[]
             }, _output);
         }
 
+        [Fact]
+        public async Task start_displays_error_on_invalid_host_json()
+        {
+            var functionName = "HttpTriggerCSharp";
+
+            await CliTester.Run(new RunConfiguration[]
+            {
+                new RunConfiguration
+                {
+                    Commands = new[]
+                    {
+                        "init . --worker-runtime dotnet",
+                        $"new --template Httptrigger --name {functionName}",
+
+                    },
+                    Test = async (workingDir, p) =>
+                    {
+                        var filePath = Path.Combine(workingDir, "host.json");
+                        string hostJsonContent = "{ \"version\": \"2.0\", \"extensionBundle\": { \"id\": \"Microsoft.Azure.Functions.ExtensionBundle\", \"version\": \"[1.*, 2.0.0)\" }}";
+                        await File.WriteAllTextAsync(filePath, hostJsonContent);
+                    },
+                },
+                new RunConfiguration
+                {
+                    Commands = new[]
+                    {
+                        "start"
+                    },
+                    ExpectExit = true,
+                    ExitInError = true,
+                    ErrorContains = new[] { "Extension bundle configuration should not be present" },
+                },
+            }, _output, startHost: true);
+        }
+
+       
+        [Fact]
+        public async Task start_displays_error_on_missing_host_json()
+        {
+            var functionName = "HttpTriggerCSharp";
+
+            await CliTester.Run(new RunConfiguration[]
+            {
+                new RunConfiguration
+                {
+                    Commands = new[]
+                    {
+                        "init . --worker-runtime dotnet",
+                        $"new --template Httptrigger --name {functionName}",
+                    },
+                    Test = async (workingDir, p) =>
+                    {
+                        var hostJsonPath = Path.Combine(workingDir, "host.json");
+                        File.Delete(hostJsonPath);
+
+                    },
+                },
+                new RunConfiguration
+                {
+                    Commands = new[]
+                    {
+                        "start"
+                    },
+                    ExpectExit = true,
+                    ExitInError = true,
+                    ErrorContains = new[] { "Host.json file in missing" },
+                },
+            }, _output);
+        }
+
         [Fact]
         public async Task start_host_port_in_use()
         {