diff --git a/packages/nx/src/plugins/js/lock-file/project-graph-pruning.ts b/packages/nx/src/plugins/js/lock-file/project-graph-pruning.ts
index 97c957b4a1578..4609cdfbcb209 100644
--- a/packages/nx/src/plugins/js/lock-file/project-graph-pruning.ts
+++ b/packages/nx/src/plugins/js/lock-file/project-graph-pruning.ts
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ function findNodeMatchingVersion(
     return nodes.sort((a, b) => +gte(b.data.version, a.data.version))[0];
   }
   if (
+    graph.externalNodes[`npm:${packageName}`] &&
     satisfies(
       graph.externalNodes[`npm:${packageName}`].data.version,
       versionExpr