diff --git a/.changeset/late-falcons-dream.md b/.changeset/late-falcons-dream.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6d959c05a2c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/late-falcons-dream.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'create-astro': patch
+---
+
+Handle error state for version number
diff --git a/packages/create-astro/src/actions/intro.ts b/packages/create-astro/src/actions/intro.ts
index e4370d706ecb..e5d68069fcc5 100644
--- a/packages/create-astro/src/actions/intro.ts
+++ b/packages/create-astro/src/actions/intro.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ export async function intro(ctx: Pick<Context, 'skipHouston' | 'version' | 'user
 				'Welcome',
 				'to',
 				label('astro', color.bgGreen, color.black),
-				color.green(`v${ctx.version}`) + ',',
+				(ctx.version ? color.green(`v${ctx.version}`) : '') + ',',
 				`${ctx.username}!`,
 			],
 			random(welcome),
diff --git a/packages/create-astro/src/messages.ts b/packages/create-astro/src/messages.ts
index b25ad8c55a18..93778a8db4f5 100644
--- a/packages/create-astro/src/messages.ts
+++ b/packages/create-astro/src/messages.ts
@@ -83,7 +83,8 @@ export const getVersion = () =>
 		if (v) return resolve(v);
 		let registry = await getRegistry();
 		const { version } = await fetch(`${registry}/astro/latest`, { redirect: 'follow' }).then(
-			(res) => res.json()
+			(res) => res.json(),
+			() => ({ version: '' })
 		);
 		v = version;
 		resolve(version);
@@ -92,9 +93,9 @@ export const getVersion = () =>
 export const log = (message: string) => stdout.write(message + '\n');
 export const banner = async (version: string) =>
 	log(
-		`\n${label('astro', color.bgGreen, color.black)}  ${color.green(
+		`\n${label('astro', color.bgGreen, color.black)}  ${version ? color.green(
 			color.bold(`v${version}`)
-		)} ${color.bold('Launch sequence initiated.')}`
+		): ''} ${color.bold('Launch sequence initiated.')}`
 	);
 
 export const info = async (prefix: string, text: string) => {