diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/node/build-npm-package/hooks/npm-install-hook.sh b/pkgs/build-support/node/build-npm-package/hooks/npm-install-hook.sh
index 64ddcbd567fc..903dbc7eef0c 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/node/build-npm-package/hooks/npm-install-hook.sh
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/node/build-npm-package/hooks/npm-install-hook.sh
@@ -34,7 +34,16 @@ npmInstallHook() {
 
     if [ ! -d "$nodeModulesPath" ]; then
         if [ -z "${dontNpmPrune-}" ]; then
-            npm prune --omit=dev --no-save ${npmWorkspace+--workspace=$npmWorkspace} $npmPruneFlags "${npmPruneFlagsArray[@]}" $npmFlags "${npmFlagsArray[@]}"
+            if ! npm prune --omit=dev --no-save ${npmWorkspace+--workspace=$npmWorkspace} $npmPruneFlags "${npmPruneFlagsArray[@]}" $npmFlags "${npmFlagsArray[@]}"; then
+              echo
+              echo
+              echo "ERROR: npm prune step failed"
+              echo
+              echo 'If npm tried to download additional dependencies above, try setting `dontNpmPrune = true`.'
+              echo
+
+              exit 1
+            fi
         fi
 
         find node_modules -maxdepth 1 -type d -empty -delete