diff --git a/package/src/test.rs b/package/src/test.rs
index 4a8d95c..b218cf8 100644
--- a/package/src/test.rs
+++ b/package/src/test.rs
@@ -13,7 +13,9 @@ use tempfile::TempDir;
 use termcolor::{Color, WriteColor};
 
 use crate::utils::build::fingerprint;
-use crate::utils::exe::{execute, execute_with_input, Platform, CURRENT_PLATFORM};
+use crate::utils::exe::{
+    execute, execute_no_error, execute_with_input, Platform, CURRENT_PLATFORM,
+};
 use crate::utils::fs::{
     copy, create_tempdir, ensure_directory, remove_dir, rename, softlink, touch, write_file,
 };
@@ -38,7 +40,7 @@ fn decode_output(output: Vec<u8>) -> Result<String> {
 }
 
 fn assert_stderr_output(command: &mut Command, expected_messages: Vec<&str>) -> Output {
-    let output = execute(command.stderr(Stdio::piped())).unwrap();
+    let output = execute_no_error(command.stderr(Stdio::piped()));
     let stderr = decode_output(output.stderr.clone()).unwrap();
     for expected_message in expected_messages {
         assert!(
@@ -103,6 +105,7 @@ pub(crate) fn run_integration_tests(
         test_initialize_new_pants_project(scie_pants_scie);
         test_set_pants_version(scie_pants_scie);
         test_ignore_empty_pants_version_pants_sha(scie_pants_scie);
+        test_bad_pants_version(scie_pants_scie);
 
         let clone_root = create_tempdir()?;
         test_use_in_repo_with_pants_script(scie_pants_scie, &clone_root);
@@ -392,6 +395,24 @@ fn test_ignore_empty_pants_version_pants_sha(scie_pants_scie: &Path) {
     );
 }
 
+fn test_bad_pants_version(scie_pants_scie: &Path) {
+    integration_test!("Verifying Pants gives good error messages for nonexistent version numbers");
+    let non_existent_version = "1.2.3.4.5";
+    assert_stderr_output(
+        Command::new(scie_pants_scie)
+            .arg("-V")
+            .env("PANTS_VERSION", non_existent_version),
+        vec!["Could not find Pants tag 1.2.3.4.5 in https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/releases"],
+    );
+    let prefix_version = "1";
+    assert_stderr_output(
+        Command::new(scie_pants_scie)
+            .arg("-V")
+            .env("PANTS_VERSION", prefix_version),
+        vec!["Could not find Pants tag 1 in https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/releases"],
+    );
+}
+
 fn test_use_in_repo_with_pants_script(scie_pants_scie: &Path, clone_root: &TempDir) {
     integration_test!("Verify scie-pants can be used as `pants` in a repo with the `pants` script");
     // This verifies a fix for https://github.com/pantsbuild/scie-pants/issues/28.
diff --git a/package/src/utils/exe.rs b/package/src/utils/exe.rs
index 8e7b916..2737e31 100644
--- a/package/src/utils/exe.rs
+++ b/package/src/utils/exe.rs
@@ -81,14 +81,22 @@ pub(crate) fn prepare_exe(path: &Path) -> Result<()> {
 }
 
 pub(crate) fn execute_with_input(command: &mut Command, stdin_data: &[u8]) -> Result<Output> {
-    _execute_with_input(command, Some(stdin_data))
+    _execute_with_input(command, Some(stdin_data), true)
 }
 
 pub(crate) fn execute(command: &mut Command) -> Result<Output> {
-    _execute_with_input(command, None)
+    _execute_with_input(command, None, true)
 }
 
-fn _execute_with_input(command: &mut Command, stdin_data: Option<&[u8]>) -> Result<Output> {
+pub(crate) fn execute_no_error(command: &mut Command) -> Output {
+    _execute_with_input(command, None, false).unwrap()
+}
+
+fn _execute_with_input(
+    command: &mut Command,
+    stdin_data: Option<&[u8]>,
+    err_on_command_fail: bool,
+) -> Result<Output> {
     info!("Executing {command:#?}");
     if stdin_data.is_some() {
         command.stdin(std::process::Stdio::piped());
@@ -107,7 +115,7 @@ fn _execute_with_input(command: &mut Command, stdin_data: Option<&[u8]>) -> Resu
     let output = child
         .wait_with_output()
         .with_context(|| format!("Failed to gather exit status of command: {command:?}"))?;
-    if !output.status.success() {
+    if err_on_command_fail && !output.status.success() {
         let mut message_lines = vec![format!(
             "Command {command:?} failed with exit code: {code:?}",
             code = output.status.code()
diff --git a/tools/src/scie_pants/pants_version.py b/tools/src/scie_pants/pants_version.py
index 2a6c26a..b7ee1d4 100644
--- a/tools/src/scie_pants/pants_version.py
+++ b/tools/src/scie_pants/pants_version.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 from pathlib import Path
 from subprocess import CalledProcessError
-from typing import Callable, Iterator
+from typing import Any, Callable, Dict, Iterator, List
 from xml.etree import ElementTree
 
 import tomlkit
@@ -43,6 +43,10 @@ def pants_find_links_option(self, pants_version_selected: Version) -> str:
         return f"--python-repos-{option_name}={operator}['{self.find_links}']"
 
 
+class TagNotFoundError(Exception):
+    pass
+
+
 def determine_find_links(
     ptex: Ptex,
     pants_version: str,
@@ -117,12 +121,22 @@ def determine_tag_version(
         github_api_url = (
             f"https://api.github.com/repos/pantsbuild/pants/git/refs/tags/{urllib.parse.quote(tag)}"
         )
+        github_releases_url = "https://github.com/pantsbuild/pants/releases"
         headers = (
             {"Authorization": f"Bearer {github_api_bearer_token}"}
             if github_api_bearer_token
             else {}
         )
-        github_api_tag_url = ptex.fetch_json(github_api_url, **headers)["object"]["url"]
+        github_api_response: Dict[str, Any]
+        try:
+            github_api_response = ptex.fetch_json(github_api_url, **headers)
+            # If the response is not a dict, it typically means multiple matches were found, which
+            # means the supplied tag is not an exact match against any tag
+            if not isinstance(github_api_response, dict):
+                raise TagNotFoundError(f"Could not find Pants tag {tag} in {github_releases_url}")
+        except CalledProcessError as e:
+            raise TagNotFoundError(f"Could not find Pants tag {tag} in {github_releases_url}: {e}")
+        github_api_tag_url = github_api_response["object"]["url"]
         commit_sha = ptex.fetch_json(github_api_tag_url, **headers)["object"]["sha"]
 
     return determine_find_links(