diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 4eefdcc64..150674b2f 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).
 Please see [CONTRIBUTING.md](./CONTRIBUTING.md) on how to contribute to Cucumber.
 
 ## [Unreleased]
+### Changed
+- Use explicit status to check if Cucumber is running when registering support code ([#2386](https://github.com/cucumber/cucumber-js/pull/2386))
 
 ## [10.3.1] - 2024-01-16
 ### Changed
diff --git a/features/invalid_installation.feature b/features/invalid_installation.feature
index 9f65be4d3..ebb904b47 100644
--- a/features/invalid_installation.feature
+++ b/features/invalid_installation.feature
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ Feature: Invalid installations
     Then it fails
     And the error output contains the text:
       """
-      You're calling functions (e.g. "When") on an instance of Cucumber that isn't running.
-      This means you have an invalid installation, mostly likely due to:
+      You're calling functions (e.g. "When") on an instance of Cucumber that isn't running (status: PENDING).
+      This means you may have an invalid installation, potentially due to:
       - Cucumber being installed globally
       - A project structure where your support code is depending on a different instance of Cucumber
       Either way, you'll need to address this in order for Cucumber to work.
diff --git a/src/support_code_library_builder/index.ts b/src/support_code_library_builder/index.ts
index 1ea4f6840..986273e86 100644
--- a/src/support_code_library_builder/index.ts
+++ b/src/support_code_library_builder/index.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import TestStepHookDefinition from '../models/test_step_hook_definition'
 import TestRunHookDefinition from '../models/test_run_hook_definition'
 import StepDefinition from '../models/step_definition'
 import { formatLocation } from '../formatter/helpers'
-import { doesHaveValue, doesNotHaveValue } from '../value_checker'
+import { doesHaveValue } from '../value_checker'
 import { ICanonicalSupportCodeIds } from '../runtime/parallel/command_types'
 import { GherkinStepKeyword } from '../models/gherkin_step_keyword'
 import validateArguments from './validate_arguments'
@@ -65,9 +65,10 @@ interface ITestRunHookDefinitionConfig {
   uri: string
 }
 
+type LibraryStatus = 'PENDING' | 'OPEN' | 'FINALIZED'
+
 export class SupportCodeLibraryBuilder {
   public readonly methods: IDefineSupportCodeMethods
-
   private originalCoordinates: ISupportCodeCoordinates
   private afterTestCaseHookDefinitionConfigs: ITestCaseHookDefinitionConfig[]
   private afterTestRunHookDefinitionConfigs: ITestRunHookDefinitionConfig[]
@@ -83,6 +84,7 @@ export class SupportCodeLibraryBuilder {
   private stepDefinitionConfigs: IStepDefinitionConfig[]
   private World: any
   private parallelCanAssign: ParallelAssignmentValidator
+  private status: LibraryStatus = 'PENDING'
 
   constructor() {
     const methods: IDefineSupportCodeMethods = {
@@ -123,11 +125,11 @@ export class SupportCodeLibraryBuilder {
       When: this.defineStep('When', () => this.stepDefinitionConfigs),
     }
     const checkInstall = (method: string) => {
-      if (doesNotHaveValue(this.cwd)) {
+      if (this.status === 'PENDING') {
         throw new Error(
           `
-          You're calling functions (e.g. "${method}") on an instance of Cucumber that isn't running.
-          This means you have an invalid installation, mostly likely due to:
+          You're calling functions (e.g. "${method}") on an instance of Cucumber that isn't running (status: ${this.status}).
+          This means you may have an invalid installation, potentially due to:
           - Cucumber being installed globally
           - A project structure where your support code is depending on a different instance of Cucumber
           Either way, you'll need to address this in order for Cucumber to work.
@@ -414,6 +416,7 @@ export class SupportCodeLibraryBuilder {
   }
 
   finalize(canonicalIds?: ICanonicalSupportCodeIds): SupportCodeLibrary {
+    this.status = 'FINALIZED'
     const stepDefinitionsResult = this.buildStepDefinitions(
       canonicalIds?.stepDefinitionIds
     )
@@ -472,6 +475,7 @@ export class SupportCodeLibraryBuilder {
     this.stepDefinitionConfigs = []
     this.parallelCanAssign = () => true
     this.World = World
+    this.status = 'OPEN'
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/support_code_library_builder/index_spec.ts b/src/support_code_library_builder/index_spec.ts
index 6ab75771b..01568cad4 100644
--- a/src/support_code_library_builder/index_spec.ts
+++ b/src/support_code_library_builder/index_spec.ts
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import { fail } from 'node:assert'
 import { describe, it } from 'mocha'
 import { expect } from 'chai'
 import sinon from 'sinon'
@@ -9,6 +10,18 @@ import supportCodeLibraryBuilder from './'
 const { uuid } = IdGenerator
 
 describe('supportCodeLibraryBuilder', () => {
+  it('should throw if not been reset yet', () => {
+    try {
+      // @ts-expect-error mutating private member
+      supportCodeLibraryBuilder.status = 'PENDING'
+      supportCodeLibraryBuilder.methods.Given('some context', () => {})
+      fail()
+    } catch (e) {
+      expect(e.message).to.contain('calling functions (e.g. "Given")')
+      expect(e.message).to.contain('status: PENDING')
+    }
+  })
+
   describe('no support code fns', () => {
     it('returns the default options', function () {
       // Arrange