diff --git a/ios-xcframework/Podfile b/ios-xcframework/Podfile
index 9b4925cd69..ca7c97b8f0 100644
--- a/ios-xcframework/Podfile
+++ b/ios-xcframework/Podfile
@@ -74,8 +74,13 @@ end
 
 pre_install do
   # This is required to workaround an issue with RNReanimated after upgrading to version 2.17.0
-  ENV['REACT_NATIVE_NODE_MODULES_DIR'] = File.join(Dir.pwd, '..', 'gutenberg', 'node_modules')
-  puts "[Gutenberg] Set REACT_NATIVE_NODE_MODULES_DIR env var for RNReanimated to #{ENV['REACT_NATIVE_NODE_MODULES_DIR']}"
+  rn_node_modules = File.join(Dir.pwd, '..', 'gutenberg', 'node_modules')
+
+  raise "Could not find node modules at given path #{rn_node_modules}" unless File.exist? rn_node_modules
+
+  ENV['REACT_NATIVE_NODE_MODULES_DIR'] = rn_node_modules
+
+  puts "[Gutenberg] Set REACT_NATIVE_NODE_MODULES_DIR env var for RNReanimated to #{rn_node_modules}"
 end
 
 post_install do |installer|
diff --git a/ios-xcframework/Podfile.lock b/ios-xcframework/Podfile.lock
index d86f5cbd66..6607d0ce90 100644
--- a/ios-xcframework/Podfile.lock
+++ b/ios-xcframework/Podfile.lock
@@ -617,6 +617,6 @@ SPEC CHECKSUMS:
   WordPress-Aztec-iOS: 7d11d598f14c82c727c08b56bd35fbeb7dafb504
   Yoga: f7decafdc5e8c125e6fa0da38a687e35238420fa
 
-PODFILE CHECKSUM: c69cbc0dceb410112435f206ae1776b0bb7642fb
+PODFILE CHECKSUM: 6c2c4570156132166c31b1a64ec99ca9a52f3fd4
 
 COCOAPODS: 1.12.1