diff --git a/v-next/hardhat-errors/src/descriptors.ts b/v-next/hardhat-errors/src/descriptors.ts
index 14adb2a885..027cca11c6 100644
--- a/v-next/hardhat-errors/src/descriptors.ts
+++ b/v-next/hardhat-errors/src/descriptors.ts
@@ -1189,6 +1189,12 @@ This happens when your files require incompatible versions of solc or you haven'
 
 Please check Hardhat's output for more details.`,
     },
+    INVALID_SOLCJS_COMPILER: {
+      number: 1231,
+      messageTemplate: `A wasm version of solc {version} is invalid. The compile function is not available.`,
+      websiteTitle: "Invalid solcjs compiler",
+      websiteDescription: `Hardhat successfully downloaded a WASM version of solc {version} but it is invalid. The compile function is missing.`,
+    },
   },
   VIEM: {
     NETWORK_NOT_FOUND: {
diff --git a/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/builtin-plugins/solidity/build-system/compiler/solcjs-runner.ts b/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/builtin-plugins/solidity/build-system/compiler/solcjs-runner.ts
index 0809495537..69370ec5e0 100644
--- a/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/builtin-plugins/solidity/build-system/compiler/solcjs-runner.ts
+++ b/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/builtin-plugins/solidity/build-system/compiler/solcjs-runner.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
+import type { SolcWrapper } from "./solcjs-wrapper.js";
+
 async function readStream(
   stream: NodeJS.ReadStream,
   encoding: BufferEncoding = "utf8",
-) {
+): Promise<string> {
   stream.setEncoding(encoding);
 
   return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
@@ -13,7 +15,7 @@ async function readStream(
   });
 }
 
-async function getSolcJs(solcJsPath: string) {
+async function getSolcJs(solcJsPath: string): Promise<SolcWrapper> {
   const { default: solcWrapper } = await import("./solcjs-wrapper.js");
   const { default: solc } = await import(solcJsPath);
 
@@ -26,8 +28,7 @@ async function main() {
   const solcjsPath = process.argv[2];
   const solc = await getSolcJs(solcjsPath);
 
-  // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/consistent-type-assertions -- the input read from the stdin should be a string
-  const output = solc.compile(input as string);
+  const output = solc.compile(input);
 
   console.log(output);
 }
diff --git a/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/builtin-plugins/solidity/build-system/compiler/solcjs-wrapper.ts b/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/builtin-plugins/solidity/build-system/compiler/solcjs-wrapper.ts
index d9ad11c039..6cbb3f1fc5 100755
--- a/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/builtin-plugins/solidity/build-system/compiler/solcjs-wrapper.ts
+++ b/v-next/hardhat/src/internal/builtin-plugins/solidity/build-system/compiler/solcjs-wrapper.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 // This wrapper was created by extracting the parts of the solc-js package
 // (https://github.com/ethereum/solc-js) that we need to perform compilation.
 
+import { HardhatError } from "@ignored/hardhat-vnext-errors";
 import * as semver from "semver";
 
 interface Solc {
@@ -34,14 +35,17 @@ export type CompileWrapper = (input: string) => string;
 
 export default function wrapper(solc: Solc): SolcWrapper {
   const version = bindVersion(solc);
-  const isVersion6OrNewer = semver.gte(versionToSemver(version()), "0.6.0");
+  const semverVersion = versionToSemver(version());
+  const isVersion6OrNewer = semver.gte(semverVersion, "0.6.0");
   const reset = bindReset(solc);
   const compile = bindCompile(solc, isVersion6OrNewer);
 
   if (compile === undefined) {
-    // eslint-disable-next-line no-restricted-syntax -- should we use a HardhatError here?
-    throw new Error(
-      'Could not find the "compile" function in the solc library',
+    throw new HardhatError(
+      HardhatError.ERRORS.SOLIDITY.INVALID_SOLCJS_COMPILER,
+      {
+        version: version(),
+      },
     );
   }