diff --git a/packages/docusaurus/src/server/__tests__/__snapshots__/siteMetadata.test.ts.snap b/packages/docusaurus/src/server/__tests__/__snapshots__/siteMetadata.test.ts.snap
deleted file mode 100644
index 667dc1216ad9..000000000000
--- a/packages/docusaurus/src/server/__tests__/__snapshots__/siteMetadata.test.ts.snap
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-// Jest Snapshot v1, https://goo.gl/fbAQLP
-
-exports[`loadSiteMetadata warns about plugin version mismatch 1`] = `
-{
-  "docusaurusVersion": "<CURRENT_VERSION>",
-  "pluginVersions": {
-    "docusaurus-plugin-content-docs": {
-      "name": "@docusaurus/plugin-content-docs",
-      "type": "package",
-      "version": "1.0.0",
-    },
-  },
-  "siteVersion": "random-version",
-}
-`;
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus/src/server/__tests__/siteMetadata.test.ts b/packages/docusaurus/src/server/__tests__/siteMetadata.test.ts
index 3985173a03b8..cf5557ecb496 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus/src/server/__tests__/siteMetadata.test.ts
+++ b/packages/docusaurus/src/server/__tests__/siteMetadata.test.ts
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@
  * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
  */
 
-import {jest} from '@jest/globals';
 import path from 'path';
+import {DOCUSAURUS_VERSION} from '@docusaurus/utils';
 import {getPluginVersion, loadSiteMetadata} from '../siteMetadata';
 import type {LoadedPlugin} from '@docusaurus/types';
 
@@ -37,10 +37,7 @@ describe('getPluginVersion', () => {
 });
 
 describe('loadSiteMetadata', () => {
-  it('warns about plugin version mismatch', async () => {
-    const consoleMock = jest
-      .spyOn(console, 'error')
-      .mockImplementation(() => {});
+  it('throws if plugin versions mismatch', async () => {
     await expect(
       loadSiteMetadata({
         plugins: [
@@ -55,11 +52,9 @@ describe('loadSiteMetadata', () => {
         ] as LoadedPlugin[],
         siteDir: path.join(__dirname, '__fixtures__/siteMetadata'),
       }),
-    ).resolves.toMatchSnapshot();
-    expect(consoleMock.mock.calls[0]![0]).toMatchInlineSnapshot(`
-      "[ERROR] Invalid docusaurus-plugin-content-docs version 1.0.0.
-      All official @docusaurus/* packages should have the exact same version as @docusaurus/core (<CURRENT_VERSION>).
-      Maybe you want to check, or regenerate your yarn.lock or package-lock.json file?"
-    `);
+    ).rejects
+      .toThrow(`Invalid name=docusaurus-plugin-content-docs version number=1.0.0.
+All official @docusaurus/* packages should have the exact same version as @docusaurus/core (number=${DOCUSAURUS_VERSION}).
+Maybe you want to check, or regenerate your yarn.lock or package-lock.json file?`);
   });
 });
diff --git a/packages/docusaurus/src/server/siteMetadata.ts b/packages/docusaurus/src/server/siteMetadata.ts
index affcbf7183ec..faedab4fcfdb 100644
--- a/packages/docusaurus/src/server/siteMetadata.ts
+++ b/packages/docusaurus/src/server/siteMetadata.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
 
 import fs from 'fs-extra';
 import path from 'path';
-import logger from '@docusaurus/logger';
 import {DOCUSAURUS_VERSION} from '@docusaurus/utils';
 import type {
   LoadedPlugin,
@@ -82,10 +81,9 @@ function checkDocusaurusPackagesVersion(siteMetadata: SiteMetadata) {
         versionInfo.version &&
         versionInfo.version !== docusaurusVersion
       ) {
-        // Should we throw instead? It still could work with different versions
-        logger.error`Invalid name=${plugin} version number=${versionInfo.version}.
+        throw new Error(`Invalid name=${plugin} version number=${versionInfo.version}.
 All official @docusaurus/* packages should have the exact same version as @docusaurus/core (number=${docusaurusVersion}).
-Maybe you want to check, or regenerate your yarn.lock or package-lock.json file?`;
+Maybe you want to check, or regenerate your yarn.lock or package-lock.json file?`);
       }
     },
   );