diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5ee3d69a119..c62d9e3cb78 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+- Fixed an issue where the emulator would fail to start when using `firebase-functions` v7+ (#9401).
 - Added `functions.list_functions` as a MCP tool (#9369)
 - Added AI Logic to `firebase init` CLI command and `firebase_init` MCP tool. (#9185)
 - Improved error messages for Firebase AI Logic provisioning during 'firebase init' (#9377)
diff --git a/src/emulator/functionsEmulatorRuntime.ts b/src/emulator/functionsEmulatorRuntime.ts
index 8720c3b08ab..3049b5d8ef8 100644
--- a/src/emulator/functionsEmulatorRuntime.ts
+++ b/src/emulator/functionsEmulatorRuntime.ts
@@ -400,6 +400,11 @@ https://github.com/firebase/firebase-functions/blob/9e3bda13565454543b4c7b2fd10f
    */
 async function initializeFirebaseFunctionsStubs(): Promise<void> {
   const firebaseFunctionsResolution = await assertResolveDeveloperNodeModule("firebase-functions");
+  if (compareVersionStrings(firebaseFunctionsResolution.version, "7.0.0") >= 0) {
+    logDebug("Detected firebase-functions v7+, skipping legacy stubs.");
+    return;
+  }
+
   const firebaseFunctionsRoot = findModuleRoot(
     "firebase-functions",
     firebaseFunctionsResolution.resolution,
@@ -711,6 +716,11 @@ function warnAboutStorageProd(): void {
 
 async function initializeFunctionsConfigHelper(): Promise<void> {
   const functionsResolution = await assertResolveDeveloperNodeModule("firebase-functions");
+  if (compareVersionStrings(functionsResolution.version, "7.0.0") >= 0) {
+    logDebug("Detected firebase-functions v7+, skipping config helper.");
+    return;
+  }
+
   const localFunctionsModule = require(functionsResolution.resolution);
 
   logDebug("Checked functions.config()", {