diff --git a/arduino/libraries/librariesindex/index.go b/arduino/libraries/librariesindex/index.go
index b21506a197e..ea57c69eac3 100644
--- a/arduino/libraries/librariesindex/index.go
+++ b/arduino/libraries/librariesindex/index.go
@@ -136,6 +136,11 @@ func (idx *Index) FindLibraryUpdate(lib *libraries.Library) *Release {
 	if indexLib == nil {
 		return nil
 	}
+	// library.Version is nil when when the version field in
+	// a library descriptor is malformed and could not be parsed.
+	if lib.Version == nil {
+		return indexLib.Latest
+	}
 	if indexLib.Latest.Version.GreaterThan(lib.Version) {
 		return indexLib.Latest
 	}
diff --git a/arduino/libraries/librariesindex/index_test.go b/arduino/libraries/librariesindex/index_test.go
index cc6f9928c89..097d7adec51 100644
--- a/arduino/libraries/librariesindex/index_test.go
+++ b/arduino/libraries/librariesindex/index_test.go
@@ -78,6 +78,10 @@ func TestIndexer(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NotNil(t, rtcUpdate)
 	require.Equal(t, "RTCZero@1.6.0", rtcUpdate.String())
 
+	rtcUpdateNoVersion := index.FindLibraryUpdate(&libraries.Library{Name: "RTCZero", Version: nil})
+	require.NotNil(t, rtcUpdateNoVersion)
+	require.Equal(t, "RTCZero@1.6.0", rtcUpdateNoVersion.String())
+
 	rtcNoUpdate := index.FindLibraryUpdate(&libraries.Library{Name: "RTCZero", Version: semver.MustParse("3.0.0")})
 	require.Nil(t, rtcNoUpdate)