@@ -6,8 +6,14 @@ const { isNightly, isRelease } = require('./utils');
 
 async function run() {
 /** @type {string} */
-const electronVersion =
+const rawElectronVersion =
 require('../package.json').devDependencies['electron'];
+const electronVersion = semver.clean(rawElectronVersion.replace(/^\^/, ''));
+if (!electronVersion) {
+throw new Error(
+`Electron semver validation failed for version: '${rawElectronVersion}'.`
+);
+}
 const platform = electronPlatform();
 const version = await getVersion();
 /** @type {string|unknown} */
@@ -18,7 +24,7 @@ async function run() {
 '--publish',
 'never',
 '-c.electronVersion',
-semver.clean(electronVersion.replace(/^\^/, '')),
+electronVersion,
 '-c.extraMetadata.version',
 version,
 // overrides the `name` in the `package.json` to keep the `localStorage` location. (https://.com/arduino/arduino-ide/pull/2144#pullrequestreview-1554005028)