diff --git a/.changeset/chilled-queens-think.md b/.changeset/chilled-queens-think.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..06fee9820d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/chilled-queens-think.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"app-builder-lib": patch
+---
+
+Allow non-semver version formats on Windows
diff --git a/packages/app-builder-lib/src/appInfo.ts b/packages/app-builder-lib/src/appInfo.ts
index e9615015c99..310f0fcacc0 100644
--- a/packages/app-builder-lib/src/appInfo.ts
+++ b/packages/app-builder-lib/src/appInfo.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { isEmptyOrSpaces, log } from "builder-util"
-import { prerelease, SemVer } from "semver"
+import { prerelease } from "semver"
 import { PlatformSpecificBuildOptions } from "./options/PlatformSpecificBuildOptions"
 import { Packager } from "./packager"
 import { expandMacro } from "./util/macroExpander"
@@ -76,13 +76,25 @@ export class AppInfo {
   }
 
   getVersionInWeirdWindowsForm(isSetBuildNumber = true): string {
-    const parsedVersion = new SemVer(this.version)
+    const [major, maybe_minor, maybe_patch] = this.version.split(".").map(versionPart => parseInt(versionPart))
+    // The major component must be present. Here it can be either NaN or undefined, which
+    // both returns true from isNaN.
+    if (isNaN(major)) {
+      throw new Error(`Invalid major number in: ${this.version}`)
+    }
+    // Allow missing version parts. Minor and patch can be left out and default to zero
+    const minor = maybe_minor ?? 0
+    const patch = maybe_patch ?? 0
+    // ... but reject non-integer version parts. '1.a' is not going to fly
+    if (isNaN(minor) || isNaN(patch)) {
+      throw new Error(`Invalid minor or patch number in: ${this.version}`)
+    }
     // https://github.com/electron-userland/electron-builder/issues/2635#issuecomment-371792272
     let buildNumber = isSetBuildNumber ? this.buildNumber : null
     if (buildNumber == null || !/^\d+$/.test(buildNumber)) {
       buildNumber = "0"
     }
-    return `${parsedVersion.major}.${parsedVersion.minor}.${parsedVersion.patch}.${buildNumber}`
+    return `${major}.${minor}.${patch}.${buildNumber}`
   }
 
   private get notNullDevMetadata() {