diff --git a/first-class-pipeline/src/com/freeleaps/devops/SemanticReleasingExecutor.groovy b/first-class-pipeline/src/com/freeleaps/devops/SemanticReleasingExecutor.groovy
index 73c70bff..911085f6 100644
--- a/first-class-pipeline/src/com/freeleaps/devops/SemanticReleasingExecutor.groovy
+++ b/first-class-pipeline/src/com/freeleaps/devops/SemanticReleasingExecutor.groovy
@@ -35,8 +35,11 @@ class SemanticReleasingExecutor {
         steps.sh "git branch --show-current"
         steps.sh "semantic-release"
         steps.log.info("SemanticReleasingExecutor", "Semantic release completed, read latest version from VERSION file")
-        steps.env.LATEST_VERSION = steps.readFile('VERSION').trim()
-        steps.env.SEMANTIC_RELEASED = true
+        def released = steps.sh(script: 'test -f "VERSION"', returnStatus: true) == 0
+        if (released) {
+          steps.env.LATEST_VERSION = steps.readFile('VERSION').trim()
+          steps.env.SEMANTIC_RELEASED = true
+        }
       }
     }
   }