diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 27027cbfb3c..09cdf2104cd 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@
 - Interpret `keyFields: [...]` and `keyArgs: [...]` configurations in `InMemoryCache` type/field policies as `ReadonlyArray`s, since they are never mutated internally. <br/>
   [@julienfouilhe](https://github.com/julienfouilhe) in [#9339](https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-client/pull/9339)
 
+- Avoid declaring a global type for the `__DEV__` constant, to avoid conflict with other such global declarations. <br/>
+  [@benjamn](https://github.com/benjamn) in [#9386](https://github.com/apollographql/apollo-client/pull/9386)
+
 ### Bug Fixes
 
 - Fix `useSubscription` executing `skip`ped subscription when input changes. <br/>
diff --git a/config/distSpotFixes.ts b/config/distSpotFixes.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..41b8afebd79
--- /dev/null
+++ b/config/distSpotFixes.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+import * as fs from "fs";
+import { EOL } from "os";
+import { distDir } from './helpers';
+
+export function applyDistSpotFixes() {
+  sanitizeDEV();
+}
+
+function sanitizeDEV() {
+  const globalDTsPath = `${distDir}/utilities/globals/global.d.ts`;
+  const globalDTs = fs.readFileSync(globalDTsPath, "utf8");
+  // The global.d.ts types are useful within the @apollo/client codebase to
+  // provide a type for the global __DEV__ constant, but actually shipping that
+  // declaration as a globally-declared type runs too much risk of conflict with
+  // other __DEV__ declarations attempting to achieve the same thing, most
+  // notably the one in @types/react-native/index.d.ts. We preserve the default
+  // export so that index.d.ts can remain unchanged, but otherwise we remove all
+  // traces of __DEV__ from global.d.ts.
+  if (/__DEV__/.test(globalDTs)) {
+    fs.writeFileSync(globalDTsPath, [
+      "declare const _default: typeof globalThis;",
+      "export default _default;",
+    ].join(EOL));
+  }
+}
diff --git a/config/resolveModuleIds.ts b/config/postprocessDist.ts
similarity index 98%
rename from config/resolveModuleIds.ts
rename to config/postprocessDist.ts
index f8798c654d1..cddb75ff7e2 100644
--- a/config/resolveModuleIds.ts
+++ b/config/postprocessDist.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@ import * as path from "path";
 import resolve from "resolve";
 import { distDir, eachFile, reparse, reprint } from './helpers';
 
+import { applyDistSpotFixes } from "./distSpotFixes";
+applyDistSpotFixes();
+
 // The primary goal of the 'npm run resolve' script is to make ECMAScript
 // modules exposed by Apollo Client easier to consume natively in web browsers,
 // without bundling, and without help from package.json files. It accomplishes
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 6d53c4902a6..bc07bc2c653 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -31,14 +31,14 @@
   "scripts": {
     "prebuild": "npm run clean",
     "build": "tsc",
-    "postbuild": "npm run update-version && npm run invariants && npm run sourcemaps && npm run rollup && npm run prepdist && npm run resolve && npm run verify-version",
+    "postbuild": "npm run update-version && npm run invariants && npm run sourcemaps && npm run rollup && npm run prepdist && npm run postprocess-dist && npm run verify-version",
     "update-version": "node config/version.js update",
     "verify-version": "node config/version.js verify",
     "invariants": "ts-node-script config/processInvariants.ts",
     "sourcemaps": "ts-node-script config/rewriteSourceMaps.ts",
     "rollup": "rollup -c ./config/rollup.config.js",
     "prepdist": "node ./config/prepareDist.js",
-    "resolve": "ts-node-script config/resolveModuleIds.ts",
+    "postprocess-dist": "ts-node-script config/postprocessDist.ts",
     "clean": "rimraf -r dist coverage lib temp",
     "ci:precheck": "node config/precheck.js",
     "test": "jest --config ./config/jest.config.js",
diff --git a/src/utilities/globals/global.ts b/src/utilities/globals/global.ts
index c776fdda335..375689eb62c 100644
--- a/src/utilities/globals/global.ts
+++ b/src/utilities/globals/global.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,22 @@
 import { maybe } from "./maybe";
 
 declare global {
+  // Despite our attempts to reuse the React Native __DEV__ constant instead of
+  // inventing something new and Apollo-specific, declaring a useful type for
+  // __DEV__ unfortunately conflicts (TS2451) with the global declaration in
+  // @types/react-native/index.d.ts.
+  //
+  // To hide that harmless conflict, we @ts-ignore this line, which should
+  // continue to provide a type for __DEV__ elsewhere in the Apollo Client
+  // codebase, even when @types/react-native is not in use.
+  //
+  // However, because TypeScript drops @ts-ignore comments when generating .d.ts
+  // files (https://github.com/microsoft/TypeScript/issues/38628), we also
+  // sanitize the dist/utilities/globals/global.d.ts file to avoid declaring
+  // __DEV__ globally altogether when @apollo/client is installed in the
+  // node_modules directory of an application.
+  //
+  // @ts-ignore
   const __DEV__: boolean | undefined;
 }