diff --git a/version.sh b/version.sh
index 35aadd6..837eb7e 100755
--- a/version.sh
+++ b/version.sh
@@ -80,4 +80,11 @@ filename=$(h5ai_query "$component" "$distribution" "$channel" "$branch")
 
 currentVersion=$(version_from_filename "$filename")
 
+versiontemp="${currentVersion//[^.]}"
+# a valid version number has at least two dots. e.g. 1.2.3
+if [ ${#versiontemp} -lt 2 ]; then
+	echo "Malformed version received"
+	exit 1
+fi	
+
 echo "$currentVersion"