diff --git a/scripts/docs.js b/scripts/docs.js
index 6522079c7aca..f310903b90ba 100644
--- a/scripts/docs.js
+++ b/scripts/docs.js
@@ -7,4 +7,4 @@
  */
 
 require('../src/setup_node_env');
-require('../src/docs/cli');
+require('../src/dev/run_build_docs_cli').runBuildDocsCli();
diff --git a/src/dev/run_build_docs_cli.ts b/src/dev/run_build_docs_cli.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..aad524b4437d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/dev/run_build_docs_cli.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and/or licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements. Licensed under the Elastic License
+ * 2.0 and the Server Side Public License, v 1; you may not use this file except
+ * in compliance with, at your election, the Elastic License 2.0 or the Server
+ * Side Public License, v 1.
+ */
+
+import Path from 'path';
+
+import dedent from 'dedent';
+import { run, REPO_ROOT, createFailError } from '@kbn/dev-utils';
+
+const DEFAULT_DOC_REPO_PATH = Path.resolve(REPO_ROOT, '..', 'docs');
+
+const rel = (path: string) => Path.relative(process.cwd(), path);
+
+export function runBuildDocsCli() {
+  run(
+    async ({ flags, procRunner }) => {
+      const docRepoPath =
+        typeof flags.docrepo === 'string' && flags.docrepo
+          ? Path.resolve(process.cwd(), flags.docrepo)
+          : DEFAULT_DOC_REPO_PATH;
+
+      try {
+        await procRunner.run('build_docs', {
+          cmd: rel(Path.resolve(docRepoPath, 'build_docs')),
+          args: [
+            ['--doc', rel(Path.resolve(REPO_ROOT, 'docs/index.asciidoc'))],
+            ['--chunk', '1'],
+            flags.open ? ['--open'] : [],
+          ].flat(),
+          cwd: REPO_ROOT,
+          wait: true,
+        });
+      } catch (error) {
+        if (error.code === 'ENOENT') {
+          throw createFailError(dedent`
+            Unable to run "build_docs" script from docs repo.
+              Does it exist at [${rel(docRepoPath)}]?
+              Do you need to pass --docrepo to specify the correct path or clone it there?
+          `);
+        }
+
+        throw error;
+      }
+    },
+    {
+      description: 'Build the docs and serve them from a docker container',
+      flags: {
+        string: ['docrepo'],
+        boolean: ['open'],
+        default: {
+          docrepo: DEFAULT_DOC_REPO_PATH,
+        },
+        help: `
+          --docrepo [path]    Path to the doc repo, defaults to ${rel(DEFAULT_DOC_REPO_PATH)}
+          --open              Automatically open the built docs in your default browser after building
+        `,
+      },
+    }
+  );
+}
diff --git a/src/docs/cli.js b/src/docs/cli.js
deleted file mode 100644
index ac17c3908f0c..000000000000
--- a/src/docs/cli.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and/or licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one
- * or more contributor license agreements. Licensed under the Elastic License
- * 2.0 and the Server Side Public License, v 1; you may not use this file except
- * in compliance with, at your election, the Elastic License 2.0 or the Server
- * Side Public License, v 1.
- */
-
-import { execFileSync } from 'child_process';
-import { Command } from 'commander';
-
-import { defaultDocsRepoPath, buildDocsScript, buildDocsArgs } from './docs_repo';
-
-const cmd = new Command('node scripts/docs');
-cmd
-  .option('--docrepo [path]', 'local path to the docs repo', defaultDocsRepoPath())
-  .option('--open', 'open the docs in the browser', false)
-  .parse(process.argv);
-
-try {
-  execFileSync(buildDocsScript(cmd), buildDocsArgs(cmd));
-} catch (err) {
-  if (err.code === 'ENOENT') {
-    console.error(`elastic/docs repo must be cloned to ${cmd.docrepo}`);
-  } else {
-    console.error(err.stack);
-  }
-
-  process.exit(1);
-}
diff --git a/src/docs/docs_repo.js b/src/docs/docs_repo.js
deleted file mode 100644
index 2d3589c444b3..000000000000
--- a/src/docs/docs_repo.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and/or licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one
- * or more contributor license agreements. Licensed under the Elastic License
- * 2.0 and the Server Side Public License, v 1; you may not use this file except
- * in compliance with, at your election, the Elastic License 2.0 or the Server
- * Side Public License, v 1.
- */
-
-import { resolve } from 'path';
-
-const kibanaDir = resolve(__dirname, '..', '..');
-
-export function buildDocsScript(cmd) {
-  return resolve(process.cwd(), cmd.docrepo, 'build_docs');
-}
-
-export function buildDocsArgs(cmd) {
-  const docsIndexFile = resolve(kibanaDir, 'docs', 'index.asciidoc');
-  let args = ['--doc', docsIndexFile, '--direct_html', '--chunk=1'];
-  if (cmd.open) {
-    args = [...args, '--open'];
-  }
-  return args;
-}
-
-export function defaultDocsRepoPath() {
-  return resolve(kibanaDir, '..', 'docs');
-}