diff --git a/scripts/bump-and-tag-version.sh b/scripts/bump-and-tag-version.sh
index 6406d48..1cadbbd 100644
--- a/scripts/bump-and-tag-version.sh
+++ b/scripts/bump-and-tag-version.sh
@@ -22,12 +22,12 @@ source "$SCRIPTS_DIRECTORY/shared/utilities.sh"
 
 tag_and_push() {
     local -r tag="$1"
-    echo "Creating tag: $tag"
+    echo "Creating tag: \"$tag\""
     git tag "$tag" \
-        || { echo "Could not tag: $tag" ; exit 1; }
+        || { echo "Could not tag: \"$tag\"" ; exit 1; }
     git push -u origin master "$tag" \
-        || { echo "Could not push the tag: $tag"; exit 1; }
-    echo "Tag created and pushed: $tag"
+        || { echo "Could not push the tag: \"$tag\""; exit 1; }
+    echo "Tag created and pushed: \"$tag\""
 }
 
 increase_patch_version() {
@@ -52,7 +52,14 @@ is_latest_commit_tagged() {
         echo "Could not check the tags of the commit $latest_commit"
         exit 1
     fi
-    if has_value "$tag_of_latest_commit"; then return 0; else return 1; fi
+    if ! has_value "$tag_of_latest_commit"; then
+        return 1;
+    fi
+    if ! is_valid_semantic_version_string "$tag_of_latest_commit"; then
+        echo "Latest commit tag \"$tag_of_latest_commit\" in commit \"$latest_commit\" is not a version string"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+    return 0
 }
 
 main() {
@@ -66,18 +73,17 @@ main() {
         exit 0
     fi
     local last_version
-    if ! last_version=$(print_latest_version) \
-        || ! has_value "$last_version"; then
-        echo "Could not retrieve latest version."
+    if ! last_version=$(print_latest_version); then
+        echo "Could not retrieve latest version. $last_version"
         exit 1
     fi
     local new_version
     if ! new_version=$(increase_patch_version "$last_version") \
-        || ! has_value "$new_version"; then
+        || is_empty_or_null "$new_version"; then
         echo "Could not increase the version"
         exit 1
     fi
-    echo "Updating $last_version to $new_version"
+    echo "Updating \"$last_version\" to \"$new_version\""
     tag_and_push "$new_version"
 }
 
diff --git a/scripts/bump-everywhere.sh b/scripts/bump-everywhere.sh
index 42a87c0..40ada26 100644
--- a/scripts/bump-everywhere.sh
+++ b/scripts/bump-everywhere.sh
@@ -121,13 +121,12 @@ create_changelog() {
 }
 
 update_npm() {
-  local -r latest_version_tag="$1"
   local -r file_name="package.json"
   if ! file_exists "$file_name"; then
     return 0
   fi
   echo "Updating npm version"
-  bash "$SCRIPTS_DIRECTORY/bump-npm-version.sh" --version "$latest_version_tag" \
+  bash "$SCRIPTS_DIRECTORY/bump-npm-version.sh" \
     || { echo "Could not bump npm version"; exit 1; }
   git add "$file_name" \
     || { echo "git add failed for $file_name"; exit 1; }
@@ -172,12 +171,11 @@ main() {
   update_readme
   create_changelog
   local version_tag
-  if ! version_tag="$(print_latest_version)" \
-    || is_empty_or_null "$version_tag"; then
-    echo "Could not retrieve latest version"
+  if ! version_tag="$(print_latest_version)"; then
+    echo "Could not retrieve latest version. $version_tag"
     exit 1
   fi
-  update_npm "$version_tag"
+  update_npm
   commit_and_push "$version_tag"
   create_release
 }
diff --git a/scripts/bump-npm-version.sh b/scripts/bump-npm-version.sh
index b9ba612..c2ba397 100644
--- a/scripts/bump-npm-version.sh
+++ b/scripts/bump-npm-version.sh
@@ -10,21 +10,12 @@
 #   - Local: ./shared/utilities.sh
 
 # Globals
-readonly PACKAGES_FILE_NAME="package.json"
 readonly SCRIPTS_DIRECTORY=$(dirname "$0")
 
 # Import dependencies
 # shellcheck source=scripts/shared/utilities.sh
 source "$SCRIPTS_DIRECTORY/shared/utilities.sh"
 
-# Parse parameters
-while [[ "$#" -gt 0 ]]; do case $1 in
-  --version) NEW_VERSION="$2"; shift;;
-  *) echo "Unknown parameter passed: $1"; exit 1;;
-esac; shift; done
-
-# Validate parameters
-if is_empty_or_null "$NEW_VERSION"; then echo "New version is not set."; exit 1; fi;
 
 match_and_replace_version() {
   local -r content="$1" new_version="$2"
@@ -36,8 +27,8 @@ match_and_replace_version() {
 bump_npm_package_version() {
    local -r new_version="$1" file_name="$2"
    local original
-   if ! original="$(cat $PACKAGES_FILE_NAME)"; then
-    echo "Could read \"$PACKAGES_FILE_NAME\""
+   if ! original=$(cat "$file_name"); then
+    echo "Could read \"$file_name\""
     exit 1
    fi
    local updated
@@ -50,8 +41,18 @@ bump_npm_package_version() {
 }
 
 main() {
-  bump_npm_package_version "${NEW_VERSION}" "$PACKAGES_FILE_NAME"
-  echo "Updated npm version to ${NEW_VERSION}"
+  local -r file_name="package.json"
+  if ! file_exists "$file_name"; then
+    echo "Skipping.. No $file_name file exists."
+    exit 0;
+  fi
+  local new_version
+  if ! new_version=$(print_latest_version); then
+      echo "Could not retrieve the new version. $new_version"
+      exit 1;
+  fi
+  bump_npm_package_version "$new_version" "$file_name"
+  echo "Updated npm version to $new_version"
 }
 
 main
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/bump-readme-versions.sh b/scripts/bump-readme-versions.sh
index df48b26..066c9ce 100644
--- a/scripts/bump-readme-versions.sh
+++ b/scripts/bump-readme-versions.sh
@@ -38,11 +38,14 @@ file_content_contains() {
 }
 
 main() {
-  local version_before
-  if ! version_before=$(print_previous_version) \
-    || is_empty_or_null "$version_before"; then
+  if has_single_version; then 
       echo "Skipping.. There were no versions before."
-      exit 0;
+      return 0
+  fi
+  local version_before
+  if ! version_before=$(print_previous_version); then
+      echo "Could not get the version before. $version_before"
+      exit 1;
   fi
   local -r file_name="README.md"
   if ! file_exists "$file_name"; then
@@ -54,9 +57,9 @@ main() {
     exit 0;
   fi
   local new_version
-  if ! new_version=$(print_latest_version) \
-    || is_empty_or_null "$new_version"; then
-    echo "Could not retrieve the new version"
+  if ! new_version=$(print_latest_version); then
+      echo "Could not retrieve the new version. $new_version"
+      exit 1;
   fi
   search_and_replace "$file_name" "$version_before" "$new_version"
   git add "$file_name" \
diff --git a/scripts/create-github-release.sh b/scripts/create-github-release.sh
index 3c95a28..14e9f1b 100644
--- a/scripts/create-github-release.sh
+++ b/scripts/create-github-release.sh
@@ -56,18 +56,6 @@ release_exists() {
     fi
 }
 
-has_single_version() {
-    local -i total_tags
-    if ! total_tags=$(count_tags); then
-        echo "Could not count tags"
-        exit 1
-    fi
-    if [ "$total_tags" -eq "1" ]; then
-        return 0 # There is only a a single tag
-    fi
-    return 1 # There are none or multiple tags
-}
-
 print_release_notes() {
     local -r version="$1"
     if has_single_version; then 
@@ -75,9 +63,8 @@ print_release_notes() {
         return 0
     fi
     local version_before
-    if ! version_before=$(print_previous_version) \
-        || is_empty_or_null "$version_before"; then
-        echo "Could not get the previous version"
+    if ! version_before=$(print_previous_version); then
+        echo "Could not get the previous version. $version_before"
         exit 1
     fi
     local changes
@@ -120,9 +107,8 @@ create_release() {
 
 main() {
     local latest_version
-    if ! latest_version=$(print_latest_version) \
-        || is_empty_or_null "$latest_version"; then
-        echo "Could not get the latest version"
+    if ! latest_version=$(print_latest_version); then
+        echo "Could not get the latest version. $latest_version"
         exit 1;
     fi
     if ! release_exists "$latest_version"; then
diff --git a/scripts/shared/utilities.sh b/scripts/shared/utilities.sh
index e87c8cc..43c1f35 100644
--- a/scripts/shared/utilities.sh
+++ b/scripts/shared/utilities.sh
@@ -23,19 +23,60 @@ repository_has_any_tags() {
     [[ "$total_tags" -ne 0 ]]
 }
 
-print_previous_version() {  
+is_valid_semantic_version_string() {
+    local version="$1"
+    local -i -r MAX_LENGTH=256 # for package.json compatibility: https://github.com/npm/node-semver/blob/master/internal/constants.js
+    if (( ${#version} > MAX_LENGTH )); then
+        echo "Version \"$version\" is too long (max: $MAX_LENGTH, but was: ${#version})"
+        return 1
+    fi
+    if [[ ! $version =~ ^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+ ]]; then
+        echo "Version \"$version\" is invalid (not in \`major.minor.patch\` format)"
+        return 1
+    fi
+    return 0
+}
+
+# Prints latest version, exists with positive code if it cannot
+print_latest_version() {
+    if ! repository_has_any_tags; then
+        exit 1;
+    fi
+    local -r latest_tag=$(git tag | sort -V | tail -1)
+    if ! is_valid_semantic_version_string "$latest_tag"; then
+        exit 1;
+    fi
+    echo "$latest_tag"
+}
+
+has_single_version() {
     local -i total_tags
     if ! total_tags=$(count_tags); then
         echo "Could not count tags"
         exit 1
     fi
-    if [ "$total_tags" -le 1 ]; then exit 1; fi
-    git tag | sort -V | tail -2 | head -1
+    if [ "$total_tags" -eq "1" ]; then
+        return 0 # There is only a a single tag
+    fi
+    return 1 # There are none or multiple tags
 }
 
-print_latest_version() {
-    if ! repository_has_any_tags; then exit 1; fi
-    git tag | sort -V | tail -1
+# Prints latest version, exists with positive code if it cannot
+print_previous_version() {  
+    local -i total_tags
+    if ! total_tags=$(count_tags); then
+        echo "Could not count tags"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+    if [ "$total_tags" -le 1 ]; then
+        echo "There's only a single version"
+        exit 1;
+    fi
+    local -r previous_tag=$(git tag | sort -V | tail -2 | head -1)
+    if ! is_valid_semantic_version_string "$previous_tag"; then
+        exit 1;
+    fi
+    echo "$previous_tag"
 }
 
 file_exists() {