diff --git a/GNUmakefile b/GNUmakefile
index fcae9a205..35f9c0d5a 100644
--- a/GNUmakefile
+++ b/GNUmakefile
@@ -280,15 +280,15 @@ wasi-cm:
 	rsync -rv --delete --exclude go.mod --exclude '*_test.go' --exclude '*_json.go' --exclude '*.md' --exclude LICENSE $(shell go list -modfile ./internal/wasm-tools/go.mod -m -f {{.Dir}} $(WASM_TOOLS_MODULE)/cm)/ ./src/internal/cm
 
 # Check for Node.js used during WASM tests.
-NODEJS_VERSION := $(word 1,$(subst ., ,$(shell node -v | cut -c 2-)))
 MIN_NODEJS_VERSION=18
 
 .PHONY: check-nodejs-version
 check-nodejs-version:
-ifeq (, $(shell which node))
-	@echo "Install NodeJS version 18+ to run tests."; exit 1;
-endif
-	@if [ $(NODEJS_VERSION) -lt $(MIN_NODEJS_VERSION) ]; then echo "Install NodeJS version 18+ to run tests."; exit 1; fi
+	@# Check whether NodeJS is available.
+	@if ! command -v node 2>&1 >/dev/null; then echo "Install NodeJS version ${MIN_NODEJS_VERSION}+ to run tests."; exit 1; fi
+
+	@# Check whether the version is high enough.
+	@if [ "`node -v | sed 's/v\([0-9]\+\).*/\\1/g'`" -lt $(MIN_NODEJS_VERSION) ]; then echo "Install NodeJS version $(MIN_NODEJS_VERSION)+ to run tests."; exit 1; fi
 
 tinygo: ## Build the TinyGo compiler
 	@if [ ! -f "$(LLVM_BUILDDIR)/bin/llvm-config" ]; then echo "Fetch and build LLVM first by running:"; echo "  $(MAKE) llvm-source"; echo "  $(MAKE) $(LLVM_BUILDDIR)"; exit 1; fi