diff --git a/scripts/write_install_stamp.py b/scripts/write_install_stamp.py
index 105ceaebcb..42f3bf6e63 100644
--- a/scripts/write_install_stamp.py
+++ b/scripts/write_install_stamp.py
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ def build_stamp(
 
         try:
             dev_display_version = dev_version(_REPO_ROOT)
-        except subprocess.CalledProcessError:
+        except (subprocess.CalledProcessError, ValueError):
             base_version, distance = "0.0.0", 0
         else:
             base_version, separator, development = dev_display_version.partition("+")
diff --git a/tests-js/scripts/desktop-smoke.test.ts b/tests-js/scripts/desktop-smoke.test.ts
index 2d34b6aa5c..46a6371c1f 100644
--- a/tests-js/scripts/desktop-smoke.test.ts
+++ b/tests-js/scripts/desktop-smoke.test.ts
@@ -431,8 +431,11 @@ test('update-window process checks use the isolated launch environment, not the
         { executable, root, origin: 'source', userData: driver },
       )).toThrow('OLD update window did not honor isolated userData')
     } finally {
-      if (prior === undefined) delete process.env.HERMES_DESKTOP_USER_DATA_DIR
-      else process.env.HERMES_DESKTOP_USER_DATA_DIR = prior
+      if (prior === undefined) {
+        delete process.env.HERMES_DESKTOP_USER_DATA_DIR
+      } else {
+        process.env.HERMES_DESKTOP_USER_DATA_DIR = prior
+      }
     }
   } finally { fs.rmSync(root, { recursive: true, force: true }) }
 })
diff --git a/tests/scripts/test_install_stamp_distance.py b/tests/scripts/test_install_stamp_distance.py
index 7382f3e538..58f8ac731d 100644
--- a/tests/scripts/test_install_stamp_distance.py
+++ b/tests/scripts/test_install_stamp_distance.py
@@ -53,3 +53,16 @@ def test_distance_is_zero_on_the_release_commit(repo):
 
     git(repo, "checkout", "--quiet", "v1.4.0")
     assert dev_version(repo) == "1.4.0"
+
+
+def test_dev_install_stamp_before_the_first_final_release(repo, monkeypatch):
+    from scripts import write_install_stamp
+
+    git(repo, "tag", "--delete", "v1.4.0", "v1.4.0-rc")
+    monkeypatch.setattr(write_install_stamp, "_REPO_ROOT", repo)
+
+    stamp = write_install_stamp.build_stamp(update_mechanism="external")
+
+    assert stamp["baseVersion"] == "0.0.0"
+    assert stamp["distance"] == 0
+    assert stamp["displayVersion"] == "0.0.0"