diff --git a/hooks/backend_install.lua b/hooks/backend_install.lua
index 98c4d7d..86252cb 100644
--- a/hooks/backend_install.lua
+++ b/hooks/backend_install.lua
@@ -119,7 +119,11 @@ function resolve_numeric_version(tool, version, shiv_path)
     end
 
     if #matches == 0 then
-        return version
+        error(
+            "Could not resolve shiv:" .. tool .. "@" .. version ..
+            " to a concrete release tag. Expected a matching tag like v" .. version .. ".x; " ..
+            "GitHub tag fetch may have failed or no matching release exists."
+        )
     end
 
     table.sort(matches, semver_less)
@@ -142,12 +146,17 @@ function list_install_versions(tool, shiv_path)
     local tags_url = "https://api.github.com/repos/" .. repo .. "/tags"
     local ok, output = pcall(cmd.exec,
         curl_command() .. " -sf --max-time 10 " .. auth_header .. Shell.quote(tags_url))
+    if not ok or not output or output == "" then
+        error(
+            "Could not fetch GitHub tags for shiv:" .. tool ..
+            "; cannot resolve partial numeric version without release tags."
+        )
+    end
+
     local versions = {}
-    if ok and output and output ~= "" then
-        for tag in output:gmatch('"name"%s*:%s*"([^"]+)"') do
-            local version = tag:gsub("^v", "")
-            table.insert(versions, version)
-        end
+    for tag in output:gmatch('"name"%s*:%s*"([^"]+)"') do
+        local version = tag:gsub("^v", "")
+        table.insert(versions, version)
     end
     return versions
 end
diff --git a/test/lua/backend_install_test.lua b/test/lua/backend_install_test.lua
index efbe1db..ee3b673 100644
--- a/test/lua/backend_install_test.lua
+++ b/test/lua/backend_install_test.lua
@@ -221,6 +221,64 @@ test("numeric minor install ref resolves to newest matching patch", function()
     end
 end)
 
+test("numeric minor install ref fails clearly with no matching patch", function()
+    load_backend_install({ exec = function() return "" end })
+
+    local original = list_install_versions
+    list_install_versions = function(tool, shiv_path)
+        assert_equal(tool, "moving")
+        assert_equal(shiv_path, "/tmp/shiv")
+        return { "0.8.9", "0.10.0" }
+    end
+
+    local ok, err = pcall(function()
+        resolve_install_ref("moving", "0.9", "/tmp/shiv")
+    end)
+    list_install_versions = original
+
+    assert_falsey(ok)
+    assert_contains(err, "Could not resolve shiv:moving@0.9 to a concrete release tag")
+    assert_contains(err, "Expected a matching tag like v0.9.x")
+end)
+
+test("numeric minor install ref fails clearly when tag fetch fails", function()
+    local cmd_module = {
+        exec = function(command)
+            if command:find("/tags", 1, true) then
+                error("rate limited")
+            end
+            if command:find("ls '/tmp/sources'/*.json", 1, true) then
+                return "/tmp/sources/test.json\n"
+            end
+            return ""
+        end,
+    }
+    local previous_file = package.loaded["file"]
+    package.loaded["file"] = {
+        read = function(path)
+            if path == "/tmp/sources/test.json" then
+                return '{"moving":"Acme/moving"}'
+            end
+            return "{}"
+        end,
+        exists = function()
+            return false
+        end,
+    }
+    load_backend_install(cmd_module)
+
+    local ok, err = pcall(function()
+        with_env({ SHIV_SOURCES_DIR = "/tmp/sources" }, function()
+            resolve_install_ref("moving", "0.9", "/tmp/shiv")
+        end)
+    end)
+    package.loaded["file"] = previous_file
+
+    assert_falsey(ok)
+    assert_contains(err, "Could not fetch GitHub tags for shiv:moving")
+    assert_contains(err, "cannot resolve partial numeric version without release tags")
+end)
+
 test("exact numeric install ref keeps its concrete version", function()
     load_backend_install({ exec = function() return "" end })
     assert_equal(resolve_install_ref("moving", "0.9.3", "/tmp/shiv"), "v0.9.3")