diff --git a/liberty-maven-plugin/pom.xml b/liberty-maven-plugin/pom.xml
index aca56524d..73f3455a0 100644
--- a/liberty-maven-plugin/pom.xml
+++ b/liberty-maven-plugin/pom.xml
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>io.openliberty.tools</groupId>
             <artifactId>ci.common</artifactId>
-            <version>1.8.41</version>
+            <version>1.8.42-SNAPSHOT</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
diff --git a/liberty-maven-plugin/src/it/dev-it/src/test/java/net/wasdev/wlp/test/dev/it/DevEarlyQuitTest.java b/liberty-maven-plugin/src/it/dev-it/src/test/java/net/wasdev/wlp/test/dev/it/DevEarlyQuitTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5d510734b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/liberty-maven-plugin/src/it/dev-it/src/test/java/net/wasdev/wlp/test/dev/it/DevEarlyQuitTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+package net.wasdev.wlp.test.dev.it;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+
+import org.junit.AfterClass;
+import org.junit.BeforeClass;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+/**
+ * Basic test for early quit functionality during dev mode startup for issue #1638.
+ * This test verifies that dev mode starts successfully with the early hotkey reader enabled.
+ * 
+ * Note: Full keyboard input testing during startup is difficult to test reliably in integration
+ * tests due to timing issues and framework limitations. The core functionality is tested in
+ * unit tests (ci.common DevUtilTest) and can be verified manually.
+ */
+public class DevEarlyQuitTest extends BaseDevTest {
+
+    @BeforeClass
+    public static void setUpBeforeClass() throws Exception {
+        setUpBeforeClass(null, "../resources/basic-dev-project", true, false, null, null);
+    }
+
+    @AfterClass
+    public static void cleanUpAfterClass() throws Exception {
+        BaseDevTest.cleanUpAfterClass(true, false);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Test that dev mode starts successfully with early hotkey reader enabled.
+     * This verifies the integration doesn't break normal dev mode startup.
+     */
+    @Test
+    public void testDevModeStartsWithEarlyHotkeyReader() throws Exception {
+        // Start dev mode and wait for server to fully start
+        startProcess(null, true);
+
+        // Verify server is running
+        assertTrue("Server should be started",
+                verifyLogMessageExists("CWWKF0011I", 120000));
+        assertTrue("Dev mode should be running",
+                verifyLogMessageExists("Liberty is running in dev mode.", 60000));
+
+        // Verify process is alive
+        assertTrue("Process should be alive", process.isAlive());
+
+        // Normal quit
+        writer.write("q");
+        writer.flush();
+        writer.newLine();
+        writer.flush();
+
+        // Wait for process to terminate
+        boolean terminated = process.waitFor(30, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+        assertTrue("Process should have terminated after 'q' command", terminated);
+        assertFalse("Process should not be alive after quit", process.isAlive());
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Test that help command works (verifies hotkey reader is functional).
+     */
+    @Test
+    public void testHelpCommandWorks() throws Exception {
+        // Start dev mode and wait for server to fully start
+        startProcess(null, true);
+
+        // Verify server is running
+        assertTrue("Server should be started",
+                verifyLogMessageExists("CWWKF0011I", 120000));
+
+        // Send 'h' command to show help
+        writer.write("h");
+        writer.newLine();
+        writer.flush();
+
+        // Wait a bit for help to be displayed
+        Thread.sleep(2000);
+
+        // Process should still be alive (help shouldn't quit)
+        assertTrue("Process should still be alive after 'h' command", process.isAlive());
+
+        // Normal quit
+        writer.write("q");
+        writer.newLine();
+        writer.flush();
+
+        boolean terminated = process.waitFor(30, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
+        assertTrue("Process should have terminated after 'q' command", terminated);
+    }
+
+    // Helper method to read file content
+    private String readFile(File file) throws IOException {
+        if (!file.exists()) {
+            return "";
+        }
+        return new String(java.nio.file.Files.readAllBytes(file.toPath()));
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/liberty-maven-plugin/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/maven/server/DevMojo.java b/liberty-maven-plugin/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/maven/server/DevMojo.java
index 11dca8229..9c7474f26 100644
--- a/liberty-maven-plugin/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/maven/server/DevMojo.java
+++ b/liberty-maven-plugin/src/main/java/io/openliberty/tools/maven/server/DevMojo.java
@@ -1674,6 +1674,7 @@ private void doDevMode() throws MojoExecutionException {
         }
 
         util.addShutdownHook(executor);
+        util.startEarlyHotkeyReader(executor);
         
         try {
             util.startServer();