diff --git a/cmd/dbc/search_test.go b/cmd/dbc/search_test.go
index a7e4b50c..eedbd4aa 100644
--- a/cmd/dbc/search_test.go
+++ b/cmd/dbc/search_test.go
@@ -15,7 +15,9 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/columnar-tech/dbc/config"
 )
@@ -114,3 +116,34 @@ func (suite *SubcommandTestSuite) TestSearchCmdVerboseWithInstalled() {
 		"   Available Versions:\n"+
 		"    ╰── 1.0.0\n", suite.runCmd(m))
 }
+
+func (suite *SubcommandTestSuite) TestSearchCmdWithMissingVersionInManifest() {
+	// Install a driver
+	m := InstallCmd{Driver: "test-driver-1", Level: config.ConfigEnv}.
+		GetModelCustom(baseModel{getDriverRegistry: getTestDriverRegistry, downloadPkg: downloadTestPkg})
+	suite.runCmd(m)
+
+	// Corrupt the manifest by removing the version key
+	manifestPath := filepath.Join(suite.tempdir, "test-driver-1.toml")
+	manifestData, err := os.ReadFile(manifestPath)
+	suite.Require().NoError(err, "should be able to read manifest file")
+
+	// Remove the version line from the manifest
+	lines := []string{}
+	for _, line := range strings.Split(string(manifestData), "\n") {
+		if !strings.HasPrefix(line, "version =") {
+			lines = append(lines, line)
+		}
+	}
+	corruptedManifest := strings.Join(lines, "\n")
+
+	err = os.WriteFile(manifestPath, []byte(corruptedManifest), 0644)
+	suite.Require().NoError(err, "should be able to write corrupted manifest")
+
+	suite.Require().NotPanics(func() {
+		m = SearchCmd{}.GetModelCustom(
+			baseModel{getDriverRegistry: getTestDriverRegistry,
+				downloadPkg: downloadTestPkg})
+		suite.runCmd(m)
+	}, "Search should not panic when manifest is missing version key")
+}
diff --git a/cmd/dbc/uninstall_test.go b/cmd/dbc/uninstall_test.go
index e58b175b..3c87a5c5 100644
--- a/cmd/dbc/uninstall_test.go
+++ b/cmd/dbc/uninstall_test.go
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ func (suite *SubcommandTestSuite) TestUninstallManifestOnly() {
 	}
 
 	contents := `name = "Some Found Driver"
+version = "1.0.0"
 
 	# Doesn't matter what's in here
 
@@ -60,6 +61,7 @@ func (suite *SubcommandTestSuite) TestUninstallDriverAndManifest() {
 	pkgdir := path.Join(suite.tempdir, "somepath")
 	os.Mkdir(pkgdir, 0o755)
 	contents := `name = "Found Driver"
+version = "1.0.0"
 
 	# Doesn't matter what's in here
 
diff --git a/config/config.go b/config/config.go
index e9dded52..cc776241 100644
--- a/config/config.go
+++ b/config/config.go
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ const adbcEnvVar = "ADBC_DRIVER_PATH"
 
 var platformTuple string
 
+var ErrInvalidManifest = errors.New("invalid manifest")
+
 func init() {
 	os := runtime.GOOS
 	switch os {
@@ -299,6 +301,14 @@ func decodeManifest(r io.Reader, driverName string, requireShared bool) (Manifes
 			di.ManifestVersion, currentManifestVersion)
 	}
 
+	// Callers can assume these fields are set so return an error if they aren't
+	if di.Name == "" {
+		return Manifest{}, fmt.Errorf("%w: name is required", ErrInvalidManifest)
+	}
+	if di.Version == nil {
+		return Manifest{}, fmt.Errorf("%w: version is required", ErrInvalidManifest)
+	}
+
 	result := Manifest{
 		DriverInfo: DriverInfo{
 			ID:        driverName,
@@ -323,12 +333,12 @@ func decodeManifest(r io.Reader, driverName string, requireShared bool) (Manifes
 			if strVal, ok := v.(string); ok {
 				result.Driver.Shared.platformMap[k] = strVal
 			} else {
-				return Manifest{}, fmt.Errorf("invalid type for platform %s, expected string", k)
+				return Manifest{}, fmt.Errorf("%w: invalid type for platform %s, expected string", ErrInvalidManifest, k)
 			}
 		}
 	default:
 		if requireShared {
-			return Manifest{}, errors.New("invalid type for 'Driver.shared' in manifest, expected string or table")
+			return Manifest{}, fmt.Errorf("%w: invalid type for 'Driver.shared' in manifest, expected string or table", ErrInvalidManifest)
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/config/driver_test.go b/config/driver_test.go
index 0ea48c54..6c94ee9a 100644
--- a/config/driver_test.go
+++ b/config/driver_test.go
@@ -125,3 +125,37 @@ version = '0.1.0'
 	_, err := loadDriverFromManifest(prefix, driverName)
 	require.ErrorContains(t, err, "manifest version 100 is unsupported, only 1 and lower are supported by this version of dbc")
 }
+
+func TestLoadDriverFromInvalidManifest(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name        string
+		manifest    string
+		errContains string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:        "missing name",
+			manifest:    `version = '1.0.0'`,
+			errContains: "name is required",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "missing version",
+			manifest:    `name = 'Test Driver'`,
+			errContains: "version is required",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			prefix := t.TempDir()
+			driverName := "test_driver"
+			manifestPath := filepath.Join(prefix, driverName+".toml")
+
+			require.NoError(t, os.WriteFile(manifestPath, []byte(tt.manifest), 0644))
+
+			_, err := loadDriverFromManifest(prefix, driverName)
+			require.ErrorIs(t, err, ErrInvalidManifest)
+			require.ErrorContains(t, err, tt.errContains)
+			require.ErrorContains(t, err, manifestPath)
+		})
+	}
+}