diff --git a/.github/new-version.sh b/.github/new-version.sh
index 445f5e1..8c2cd22 100755
--- a/.github/new-version.sh
+++ b/.github/new-version.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,10 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
-upstream=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/zen-browser/desktop/releases/latest | jq -r '.tag_name')
+echo "Fetching upstream version from GitHub API..." >&2
+upstream_data=$(curl -vs https://api.github.com/repos/zen-browser/desktop/releases/latest)
+echo "Upstream data: $upstream_data" >&2
+
+upstream=$(echo "$upstream_data" | jq -r '.tag_name')
 local=$(grep -oP 'version = "\K[^"]+' flake.nix)
 
 if [ "$upstream" != "$local" ]; then
diff --git a/.github/update-zen-browser.bash b/.github/update-zen-browser.bash
index 9d0e7d9..b089b6b 100755
--- a/.github/update-zen-browser.bash
+++ b/.github/update-zen-browser.bash
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@
 script_dir="$(dirname -- "$0")"
 
 upstream=$("$script_dir/new-version.sh" | cat -)
+if [ "$upstream" == "null" ]; then
+    echo "Unable to determine new upstream version"
+    return 1
+fi
 
 echo "Updating to $upstream"