diff --git a/packages/cli/bin/cli-main.js b/packages/cli/bin/cli-main.js
index cf863a7e9036..e616a4dd0552 100755
--- a/packages/cli/bin/cli-main.js
+++ b/packages/cli/bin/cli-main.js
@@ -6,14 +6,18 @@
 
 'use strict';
 
-const checkNodeVersion = require('@loopback/dist-util').checkNodeVersion;
-
 const pkg = require('../package.json');
-try {
-  const range = pkg.engines.node;
-  checkNodeVersion(range);
-} catch (e) {
-  console.error(e.message);
+const semver = require('semver');
+
+// Make sure node version meets the requirement. This code intentionally only
+// uses ES5 features so that it can be run with lower versions of Node
+// to report the version requirement.
+const nodeVer = process.versions.node;
+const requiredVer = pkg.engines.node;
+const ok = semver.satisfies(nodeVer, requiredVer);
+if (!ok) {
+  const format = 'Node.js %s is not supported. Please use a version %s.';
+  console.error(format, nodeVer, requiredVer);
   process.exit(1);
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/cli/package.json b/packages/cli/package.json
index ad752134c663..cd8faefaee91 100644
--- a/packages/cli/package.json
+++ b/packages/cli/package.json
@@ -41,7 +41,6 @@
     "yeoman-test": "^1.7.0"
   },
   "dependencies": {
-    "@loopback/dist-util": "^0.3.7",
     "@phenomnomnominal/tsquery": "^2.1.1",
     "camelcase-keys": "^4.2.0",
     "chalk": "^2.3.2",
diff --git a/packages/dist-util/README.md b/packages/dist-util/README.md
index 0bc5076e7d38..4c59a961dc8e 100644
--- a/packages/dist-util/README.md
+++ b/packages/dist-util/README.md
@@ -1,5 +1,20 @@
 # @loopback/dist-util
 
+**This package is no longer actively maintained.**
+
+Please upgrade your project to use a single compilation target, for example by
+changing your `build` script in `package.json` as follows:
+
+```json
+{
+  "scripts": {
+    "build": "lb-tsc es2017 --outDir dist"
+  }
+}
+```
+
+## Overview
+
 Utilities to work with `dist` folders used by different Node.js versions.
 
 | version | directory       |
diff --git a/sandbox/example/index.js b/sandbox/example/index.js
index 4f257154224d..8da594cb56f1 100644
--- a/sandbox/example/index.js
+++ b/sandbox/example/index.js
@@ -3,5 +3,5 @@
 // This file is licensed under the MIT License.
 // License text available at https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT
 
-const distUtilPkg = require('@loopback/dist-util/package.json');
-console.log('Resolved dependency: %s@%s', distUtilPkg.name, distUtilPkg.version);
+const package = require('./package.json');
+console.log('Welcome to %s@%s', package.name, package.version);