diff --git a/.node-version b/.node-version
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..617bcf916b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.node-version
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+18.14.1
diff --git a/app/gui/docs/CONTRIBUTING.md b/app/gui/docs/CONTRIBUTING.md
index d4f04fcaef..650f7236e7 100644
--- a/app/gui/docs/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/app/gui/docs/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -79,10 +79,10 @@ setup:
   [the latest LTS version of node and npm](https://nodejs.org/en/download). Even
   minor release changes are known to cause serious issues, thus **we provide
   support for the latest LTS version only. Please do not report build issues if
-  you use other versions.** In case you run macOS or Linux the easiest way to
-  set up the proper version is by installing the
-  [Node Version Manager](https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm) and running
-  `nvm install --lts && nvm use --lts`.
+  you use other versions.** The easiest way to set up the proper version is by
+  installing
+  [a Node version manager that automatically picks up the correct version](https://github.com/shadowspawn/node-version-usage#supporting-products),
+  like [fnm](https://github.com/Schniz/fnm).
 
 - **(Optional) FlatBuffer compiler `flatc`**
 
diff --git a/build-config.yaml b/build-config.yaml
index 6254b2effb..9a36095863 100644
--- a/build-config.yaml
+++ b/build-config.yaml
@@ -3,8 +3,9 @@
 wasm-size-limit: 15.50 MiB
 
 required-versions:
+  # NB. The Rust version is pinned in rust-toolchain.toml.
+  # NB. The Node version is pinned in .node-version.
   cargo-watch: ^8.1.1
-  node: =18.14.1
   wasm-pack: ^0.10.2
 #  TODO [mwu]: Script can install `flatc` later on (if `conda` is present), so this is not required. However it should
 #              be required, if `conda` is missing.
diff --git a/build/build/src/config.rs b/build/build/src/config.rs
index 40bfebaeb4..9a457ac044 100644
--- a/build/build/src/config.rs
+++ b/build/build/src/config.rs
@@ -7,8 +7,13 @@ use semver::VersionReq;
 
 
 
-pub fn load_yaml(yaml_text: &str) -> Result<Config> {
-    let raw = serde_yaml::from_str::<ConfigRaw>(yaml_text)?;
+/// Load the build configuration, based on the `build-config.yaml` and `.node-version` files in
+/// the repo root.
+pub fn load() -> Result<Config> {
+    let yaml_text = include_str!("../../../build-config.yaml");
+    let node_version = include_str!("../../../.node-version").trim();
+    let mut raw = serde_yaml::from_str::<ConfigRaw>(yaml_text)?;
+    raw.required_versions.insert("node".to_owned(), node_version.to_owned());
     raw.try_into()
 }
 
diff --git a/build/cli/src/main.rs b/build/cli/src/main.rs
index 8705e8e318..9edf690382 100644
--- a/build/cli/src/main.rs
+++ b/build/cli/src/main.rs
@@ -6,16 +6,13 @@
 
 use enso_build::prelude::*;
 
-use enso_build::config::Config;
-use enso_build::config::ConfigRaw;
+use enso_build::config;
 
 
 
 fn main() -> Result {
     setup_logging()?;
     trace!("Starting CLI driver, cwd is {}", ide_ci::env::current_dir()?.display());
-    let build_config_yaml = include_str!("../../../build-config.yaml");
-    let build_config_raw = serde_yaml::from_str::<ConfigRaw>(build_config_yaml)?;
-    let build_config = Config::try_from(build_config_raw)?;
+    let build_config = config::load()?;
     enso_build_cli::lib_main(Some(build_config))
 }
diff --git a/docs/CONTRIBUTING.md b/docs/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 6ccd654f29..61780f67b4 100644
--- a/docs/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/docs/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -137,8 +137,10 @@ arising from unsupported configurations will not be fixed by the core team.
 
 In order to build and run Enso you will need the following tools:
 
-- [NodeJS](https://nodejs.org/) with the latest LTS version. We recommend using
-  [`nvm`](https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm) for managing NodeJS installation.
+- [NodeJS](https://nodejs.org/) with the latest LTS version. We recommend
+  installing
+  [a Node version manager that automatically picks up the correct version](https://github.com/shadowspawn/node-version-usage#supporting-products),
+  like [fnm](https://github.com/Schniz/fnm).
 - [sbt](https://www.scala-sbt.org/) with the same version as specified in
   [`project/build.properties`](../project/build.properties).
 - [Maven](https://maven.apache.org/) with version at least 3.6.3.