diff --git a/source/npm-util.js b/source/npm-util.js
index 34cb59af..7e2f44f5 100644
--- a/source/npm-util.js
+++ b/source/npm-util.js
@@ -44,10 +44,16 @@ exports.collaborators = async packageName => {
 exports.prereleaseTags = async packageName => {
 	ow(packageName, ow.string);
 
-	const stdout = await execa.stdout('npm', ['view', '--json', packageName, 'dist-tags']);
-
-	const tags = Object.keys(JSON.parse(stdout))
-		.filter(tag => tag !== 'latest');
+	let tags = [];
+	try {
+		const {stdout} = await execa('npm', ['view', '--json', packageName, 'dist-tags']);
+		tags = Object.keys(JSON.parse(stdout))
+			.filter(tag => tag !== 'latest');
+	} catch (error) {
+		if (JSON.parse(error.stdout).code !== 'E404') {
+			throw error;
+		}
+	}
 
 	if (tags.length === 0) {
 		tags.push('next');