diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 4d115a0c25..169fcbe9e1 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@
 
 - [#2183: Improve the design of the error screen](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-prototype-kit/pull/2183)
 
+### Fixes
+
+- [#2197: Prevent screen flickering when installing updates](https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-prototype-kit/pull/2197)
+
 ## 13.7.1
 
 ### Fixes
diff --git a/__tests__/spec/errors.js b/__tests__/spec/errors.js
index c1a872a8ca..1eedd27dc1 100644
--- a/__tests__/spec/errors.js
+++ b/__tests__/spec/errors.js
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ const request = require('supertest')
 const path = require('path')
 const cheerio = require('cheerio')
 
+jest.mock('../../lib/sync-changes')
+
 // local dependencies
 const { sleep } = require('../../lib/utils')
 
@@ -80,7 +82,7 @@ describe('error handling', () => {
     expect(response.status).toBe(500)
     expect(getPageTitle(response.text)).toEqual('Error – GOV.UK Prototype Kit – GOV.UK Prototype Kit')
     expect(getH1(response.text)).toEqual('There is an error')
-    expect(getErrorFile(response.text)).toEqual('__tests__/spec/errors.js (line 71)')
+    expect(getErrorFile(response.text)).toEqual('__tests__/spec/errors.js (line 73)')
     expect(getErrorMessage(response.text)).toEqual('test error')
 
     app.close()
diff --git a/lib/errorServer.js b/lib/errorServer.js
index 781c058218..ca99104c6d 100644
--- a/lib/errorServer.js
+++ b/lib/errorServer.js
@@ -4,8 +4,10 @@ const fs = require('fs')
 const { getNunjucksAppEnv } = require('./nunjucks/nunjucksConfiguration')
 const errorView = require('./utils/errorView')
 const syncChanges = require('./sync-changes')
+const { flagError } = require('./sync-changes')
 
 function runErrorServer (error) {
+  flagError(error)
   let port
   try {
     port = require('./config.js').getConfig().port
diff --git a/lib/sync-changes.js b/lib/sync-changes.js
index ae5c75914b..9055e6f117 100644
--- a/lib/sync-changes.js
+++ b/lib/sync-changes.js
@@ -3,13 +3,35 @@ const EventEmitter = require('events')
 
 // npm dependencies
 const browserSync = require('browser-sync')
+const { writeJsonSync } = require('fs-extra')
+const path = require('path')
+const { tmpDir } = require('./utils/paths')
+const fs = require('fs')
 
 const eventEmitter = new EventEmitter()
 
 const pageLoadedEvent = 'sync-changes:page-loaded'
 
+const errorsFile = path.join(tmpDir, 'errors.json')
+
+function hasRestartedAfterError () {
+  return fs.existsSync(errorsFile)
+}
+
+function flagError (error) {
+  writeJsonSync(path.join(tmpDir, 'errors.json'), { error })
+}
+
+function unflagError () {
+  if (hasRestartedAfterError()) {
+    fs.unlinkSync(errorsFile)
+  }
+}
+
 function pageLoaded () {
-  eventEmitter.emit(pageLoadedEvent)
+  if (hasRestartedAfterError()) {
+    eventEmitter.emit(pageLoadedEvent)
+  }
   return { status: 'received ok' }
 }
 
@@ -26,13 +48,16 @@ function sync ({ port, proxyPort, files }) {
     logLevel: 'error',
     callbacks: {
       ready: (_, bs) => {
-        // Repeat browser sync reload every 1000 milliseconds until it is successful
-        const intervalId = setInterval(browserSync.reload, 1000)
-        eventEmitter.once(pageLoadedEvent, () => {
-          bs.events.once('browser:reload', () => {
-            clearInterval(intervalId)
+        if (hasRestartedAfterError()) {
+          // Repeat browser sync reload every 1000 milliseconds until it is successful
+          const intervalId = setInterval(browserSync.reload, 1000)
+          eventEmitter.once(pageLoadedEvent, () => {
+            bs.events.once('browser:reload', () => {
+              unflagError()
+              clearInterval(intervalId)
+            })
           })
-        })
+        }
       }
     }
   })
@@ -40,5 +65,6 @@ function sync ({ port, proxyPort, files }) {
 
 module.exports = {
   sync,
+  flagError,
   pageLoaded
 }
diff --git a/lib/sync-changes.test.js b/lib/sync-changes.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a3f4cb8c94
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/sync-changes.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+const syncChanges = require('./sync-changes')
+
+jest.mock('fs')
+jest.mock('fs-extra')
+jest.mock('browser-sync')
+
+const fs = require('fs')
+const fse = require('fs-extra')
+const browserSync = require('browser-sync')
+const path = require('path')
+const { tmpDir } = require('./utils/paths')
+
+const errorsFile = path.join(tmpDir, 'errors.json')
+
+describe('sync-changes', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    //
+  })
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    jest.restoreAllMocks()
+  })
+
+  it('flags error correctly', () => {
+    const error = { data: true }
+
+    syncChanges.flagError(error)
+
+    expect(fse.writeJsonSync).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+    expect(fse.writeJsonSync).toHaveBeenCalledWith(errorsFile, { error })
+  })
+
+  it('syncs correctly', () => {
+    const port = 1000
+    const proxyPort = 900
+    const files = ['test-file']
+
+    syncChanges.sync({ port, proxyPort, files })
+
+    const browserSyncParams = browserSync.mock.calls[0][0]
+
+    expect(browserSyncParams).toHaveProperty('port', port)
+    expect(browserSyncParams).toHaveProperty('proxy', `localhost:${900}`)
+    expect(browserSyncParams).toHaveProperty('port', port)
+
+    jest.spyOn(fs, 'existsSync').mockImplementation(() => {
+      return true
+    })
+
+    const once = (event, callback) => {
+      expect(event).toEqual('browser:reload')
+      callback()
+    }
+
+    const bs = { events: { once } }
+
+    browserSyncParams.callbacks.ready(null, bs)
+
+    syncChanges.pageLoaded()
+
+    expect(fs.existsSync).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(3)
+    expect(fs.existsSync).toHaveBeenCalledWith(errorsFile)
+
+    expect(fs.unlinkSync).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
+    expect(fs.unlinkSync).toHaveBeenCalledWith(errorsFile)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/lib/utils/errorView.js b/lib/utils/errorView.js
index 98cd5c557e..ffefdc4573 100644
--- a/lib/utils/errorView.js
+++ b/lib/utils/errorView.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 const fs = require('fs')
 const path = require('path')
 const { verboseLog } = require('./verboseLogger')
+const { flagError } = require('../sync-changes')
 
 function getSourcecode (filePath, errorLineNumber, maxLines) {
   try {
@@ -111,6 +112,8 @@ function nodeMatchWithLineAndColumn (error) {
 }
 
 module.exports = function (error) {
+  flagError(error)
+
   const viewObject = {
     errorStack: error.stack,
     pluginConfig: {