diff --git a/yarn-project/cli/src/update/npm.ts b/yarn-project/cli/src/update/npm.ts
index 41dadbf518e..6d73c1ca7d6 100644
--- a/yarn-project/cli/src/update/npm.ts
+++ b/yarn-project/cli/src/update/npm.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ import { DependencyChanges } from './common.js';
 export async function readPackageJson(projectPath: string): Promise<{
   /** dependencies */
   dependencies?: Record<string, string>;
+  /** devDependencies */
+  devDependencies?: Record<string, string>;
 }> {
   const configFilepath = resolve(join(projectPath, 'package.json'));
   const pkg = JSON.parse(await readFile(configFilepath, 'utf-8'));
@@ -63,31 +65,34 @@ export async function updateAztecDeps(
     dependencies: [],
   };
 
-  if (!pkg.dependencies) {
-    return changes;
-  }
-
   log(`Updating @aztec packages to ${aztecVersion} in ${relative(process.cwd(), changes.file)}`);
   const version = aztecVersion.version;
 
-  for (const name of Object.keys(pkg.dependencies)) {
-    if (!name.startsWith('@aztec/')) {
-      continue;
-    }
-
-    // different release schedule
-    if (name === '@aztec/aztec-ui') {
+  for (const depType of ['dependencies', 'devDependencies'] as const) {
+    const dependencies = pkg[depType];
+    if (!dependencies) {
       continue;
     }
 
-    if (pkg.dependencies[name] !== version) {
-      changes.dependencies.push({
-        name,
-        from: pkg.dependencies[name],
-        to: version,
-      });
-
-      pkg.dependencies[name] = version;
+    for (const name of Object.keys(dependencies)) {
+      if (!name.startsWith('@aztec/')) {
+        continue;
+      }
+
+      // different release schedule
+      if (name === '@aztec/aztec-ui') {
+        continue;
+      }
+
+      if (dependencies[name] !== version) {
+        changes.dependencies.push({
+          name,
+          from: dependencies[name],
+          to: version,
+        });
+
+        dependencies[name] = version;
+      }
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/yarn-project/cli/src/update/update.ts b/yarn-project/cli/src/update/update.ts
index bd819605d0d..977cb699c4e 100644
--- a/yarn-project/cli/src/update/update.ts
+++ b/yarn-project/cli/src/update/update.ts
@@ -98,7 +98,13 @@ async function getNpmSandboxVersion(projectPath: string, log: LogFn): Promise<Se
   try {
     const pkg = await readPackageJson(projectPath);
     // use coerce instead of parse because it eliminates semver operators like ~ and ^
-    return coerce(pkg.dependencies?.[SANDBOX_PACKAGE]);
+    if (pkg.dependencies?.[SANDBOX_PACKAGE]) {
+      return coerce(pkg.dependencies[SANDBOX_PACKAGE]);
+    } else if (pkg.devDependencies?.[SANDBOX_PACKAGE]) {
+      return coerce(pkg.devDependencies[SANDBOX_PACKAGE]);
+    } else {
+      return null;
+    }
   } catch (err) {
     if (err instanceof Error && 'code' in err && err.code === 'ENOENT') {
       log(`No package.json found in ${projectPath}`);