diff --git a/mesop/colab/colab_run.py b/mesop/colab/colab_run.py
index 17df54a9f..921bdd217 100644
--- a/mesop/colab/colab_run.py
+++ b/mesop/colab/colab_run.py
@@ -2,12 +2,12 @@
 
 from absl import flags
 
-from mesop.colab import colab_utils
 from mesop.runtime import enable_debug_mode
 from mesop.server.constants import EDITOR_PACKAGE_PATH, PROD_PACKAGE_PATH
 from mesop.server.logging import log_startup
 from mesop.server.server import configure_flask_app
 from mesop.server.static_file_serving import configure_static_file_serving
+from mesop.utils import colab_utils
 from mesop.utils.host_util import get_default_host
 
 
diff --git a/mesop/colab/colab_run_test.py b/mesop/colab/colab_run_test.py
index 57209ebe5..65d0aec1e 100644
--- a/mesop/colab/colab_run_test.py
+++ b/mesop/colab/colab_run_test.py
@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
 
 import pytest
 
-from mesop.colab import colab_utils
 from mesop.colab.colab_run import colab_run
 from mesop.runtime import runtime
+from mesop.utils import colab_utils
 
 
 class FakeThread:
diff --git a/mesop/colab/colab_show.py b/mesop/colab/colab_show.py
index 9ce7a0b0a..1aeab4605 100644
--- a/mesop/colab/colab_show.py
+++ b/mesop/colab/colab_show.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from mesop.colab import colab_utils
+from mesop.utils import colab_utils
 
 
 def colab_show(
diff --git a/mesop/runtime/BUILD b/mesop/runtime/BUILD
index caa84ba62..754b574d5 100644
--- a/mesop/runtime/BUILD
+++ b/mesop/runtime/BUILD
@@ -12,5 +12,6 @@ py_library(
         "//mesop/exceptions",
         "//mesop/protos:ui_py_pb2",
         "//mesop/security",
+        "//mesop/utils",
     ] + THIRD_PARTY_PY_FLASK,
 )
diff --git a/mesop/runtime/runtime.py b/mesop/runtime/runtime.py
index 066ea489e..6d4df8a9c 100644
--- a/mesop/runtime/runtime.py
+++ b/mesop/runtime/runtime.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 from mesop.exceptions import MesopDeveloperException, MesopUserException
 from mesop.key import Key
 from mesop.security.security_policy import SecurityPolicy
+from mesop.utils import colab_utils
 from mesop.utils.backoff import exponential_backoff
 
 from .context import Context
@@ -61,7 +62,15 @@ def context(self) -> Context:
     return g._mesop_context
 
   def create_context(self) -> Context:
-    self._has_served_traffic = True
+    # If running in prod mode, *always* enable the has served traffic safety check.
+    # If running in debug mode, only enable the has served traffic safety check if
+    # app is not running in IPython / notebook environments.
+    #
+    # We don't want to break iterative development where notebook app developers
+    # will want to register pages after traffic has been served.
+    # Unlike CLI (w/ hot reload), in notebook envs, runtime is *not* reset.
+    if not self.debug_mode or not colab_utils.is_running_ipython():
+      self._has_served_traffic = True
     if len(self._state_classes) == 0:
       states = {EmptyState: EmptyState()}
     else:
diff --git a/mesop/colab/colab_utils.py b/mesop/utils/colab_utils.py
similarity index 100%
rename from mesop/colab/colab_utils.py
rename to mesop/utils/colab_utils.py