diff --git a/packages/ckeditor5-package-generator/lib/utils/get-package-version.js b/packages/ckeditor5-package-generator/lib/utils/get-package-version.js
index 78538c6c..dcea2439 100644
--- a/packages/ckeditor5-package-generator/lib/utils/get-package-version.js
+++ b/packages/ckeditor5-package-generator/lib/utils/get-package-version.js
@@ -5,24 +5,14 @@
 
 'use strict';
 
-const { spawnSync } = require( 'child_process' );
+const { execSync } = require( 'child_process' );
 
 /**
- * Returns the version of the specified package.
+ * Returns version of the specified package.
  *
  * @param packageName Name of the package to check the version of.
  * @return {String}
  */
 module.exports = function getPackageVersion( packageName ) {
-	// See: #39.
-	const response = spawnSync( 'npm', [ 'view', packageName, '--json' ], {
-		encoding: 'utf8',
-		shell: true
-	} );
-
-	try {
-		return JSON.parse( response.stdout.toString() ).versions.pop();
-	} catch ( err ) {
-		throw new Error( 'The specified package has not been published on npm yet.' );
-	}
+	return execSync( `npm view ${ packageName } version` ).toString().trim();
 };
diff --git a/packages/ckeditor5-package-generator/tests/utils/get-package-version.js b/packages/ckeditor5-package-generator/tests/utils/get-package-version.js
index 1c9fb78d..405edf57 100644
--- a/packages/ckeditor5-package-generator/tests/utils/get-package-version.js
+++ b/packages/ckeditor5-package-generator/tests/utils/get-package-version.js
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ const expect = require( 'chai' ).expect;
 const mockery = require( 'mockery' );
 
 describe( 'lib/utils/get-package-version', () => {
-	let getPackageVersion, spawnSyncStub;
+	let getPackageVersion, execSyncStub;
 
 	beforeEach( () => {
 		mockery.enable( {
@@ -19,16 +19,10 @@ describe( 'lib/utils/get-package-version', () => {
 			warnOnUnregistered: false
 		} );
 
-		spawnSyncStub = sinon.stub().returns( {
-			stdout: Buffer.from( JSON.stringify( {
-				versions: [
-					'30.0.0'
-				]
-			} ) )
-		} );
+		execSyncStub = sinon.stub().returns( Buffer.from( '30.0.0' ) );
 
 		mockery.registerMock( 'child_process', {
-			spawnSync: spawnSyncStub
+			execSync: execSyncStub
 		} );
 
 		getPackageVersion = require( '../../lib/utils/get-package-version' );
@@ -49,12 +43,10 @@ describe( 'lib/utils/get-package-version', () => {
 		expect( returnedValue ).to.be.a( 'string' );
 	} );
 
-	it( 'calls "npm view" to determine the version', () => {
+	it( 'calls "npm show" to determine the version', () => {
 		getPackageVersion( 'ckeditor5' );
 
-		expect( spawnSyncStub.firstCall.args[ 0 ] ).to.equal( 'npm' );
-		expect( spawnSyncStub.firstCall.args[ 1 ] ).to.deep.equal( [ 'view', 'ckeditor5', '--json' ] );
-		expect( spawnSyncStub.firstCall.args[ 2 ] ).to.be.an( 'object' );
+		expect( execSyncStub.firstCall.firstArg ).to.equal( 'npm view ckeditor5 version' );
 	} );
 
 	it( 'returns a version matching semantic versioning specification', () => {
@@ -62,14 +54,4 @@ describe( 'lib/utils/get-package-version', () => {
 
 		expect( returnedValue ).to.equal( '30.0.0' );
 	} );
-
-	it( 'throws an error when asking about a non-existing package', () => {
-		spawnSyncStub.returns( {
-			stdout: Buffer.from( '' )
-		} );
-
-		expect(
-			() => getPackageVersion( 'non-existing-foo-package' )
-		).to.throw( 'The specified package has not been published on npm yet.', Error );
-	} );
 } );