diff --git a/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/lib/tasks/verifypackagespublishedcorrectly.js b/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/lib/tasks/verifypackagespublishedcorrectly.js
index a6d0a4a77..a72137535 100644
--- a/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/lib/tasks/verifypackagespublishedcorrectly.js
+++ b/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/lib/tasks/verifypackagespublishedcorrectly.js
@@ -32,16 +32,12 @@ export default async function verifyPackagesPublishedCorrectly( options ) {
 	for ( const packageToVerify of packagesToVerify ) {
 		const packageJson = await fs.readJson( upath.join( packageToVerify, 'package.json' ) );
 
-		try {
-			const packageWasUploadedCorrectly = !await checkVersionAvailability( version, packageJson.name );
-
-			if ( packageWasUploadedCorrectly ) {
-				await fs.remove( packageToVerify );
-			} else {
-				errors.push( packageJson.name );
-			}
-		} catch {
+		const isPackageVersionAvailable = await checkVersionAvailability( version, packageJson.name );
+
+		if ( isPackageVersionAvailable ) {
 			errors.push( packageJson.name );
+		} else {
+			await fs.remove( packageToVerify );
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/lib/utils/checkversionavailability.js b/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/lib/utils/checkversionavailability.js
index 197257d71..cd3e5918a 100644
--- a/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/lib/utils/checkversionavailability.js
+++ b/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/lib/utils/checkversionavailability.js
@@ -3,41 +3,25 @@
  * For licensing, see LICENSE.md.
  */
 
-import { tools } from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-dev-utils';
-import shellEscape from 'shell-escape';
+import pacote from 'pacote';
 
 /**
  * Checks if the provided version for the package exists in the npm registry.
  *
  * Returns a promise that resolves to `true` if the provided version does not exist or resolves the promise to `false` otherwise.
- * If the `npm show` command exits with an error, it is re-thrown.
  *
  * @param {string} version
  * @param {string} packageName
  * @returns {Promise}
  */
 export default async function checkVersionAvailability( version, packageName ) {
-	const command = `npm show ${ shellEscape( [ packageName ] ) }@${ shellEscape( [ version ] ) } version`;
-
-	return tools.shExec( command, { verbosity: 'silent', async: true } )
-		.then( result => {
-			// Explicit check for npm < 8.13.0, which does not return anything (an empty result) and it exits with a zero status code when
-			// the version for the provided package does not exist in the npm registry.
-			if ( !result ) {
-				return true;
-			}
-
-			// Provided version exists in the npm registry.
+	return pacote.manifest( `${ packageName }@${ version }` )
+		.then( () => {
+			// If `pacote.manifest` resolves, a package with the given version exists.
 			return false;
 		} )
-		.catch( error => {
-			// All errors except the "E404" are re-thrown.
-			if ( !error.toString().includes( 'code E404' ) ) {
-				throw error;
-			}
-
-			// Npm >= 8.13.0 throws an "E404" error if a version does not exist.
-			// Npm < 8.13.0 should never reach this line.
+		.catch( () => {
+			// When throws, the package does not exist.
 			return true;
 		} );
 }
diff --git a/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/lib/utils/isversionpublishablefortag.js b/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/lib/utils/isversionpublishablefortag.js
index 888cf46cf..b5dffa6e5 100644
--- a/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/lib/utils/isversionpublishablefortag.js
+++ b/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/lib/utils/isversionpublishablefortag.js
@@ -3,9 +3,8 @@
  * For licensing, see LICENSE.md.
  */
 
-import { tools } from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-dev-utils';
 import semver from 'semver';
-import shellEscape from 'shell-escape';
+import pacote from 'pacote';
 
 /**
  * This util aims to verify if the given `packageName` can be published with the given `version` on the `npmTag`.
@@ -16,10 +15,9 @@ import shellEscape from 'shell-escape';
  * @returns {Promise.<boolean>}
  */
 export default async function isVersionPublishableForTag( packageName, version, npmTag ) {
-	const command = `npm view ${ shellEscape( [ packageName ] ) }@${ shellEscape( [ npmTag ] ) } version --silent`;
-	const npmVersion = await tools.shExec( command, { async: true, verbosity: 'silent' } )
-		.then( value => value.trim() )
-		// An `npmTag` does not exist.
+	const npmVersion = await pacote.manifest( `${ packageName }@${ npmTag }` )
+		.then( ( { version } ) => version )
+		// An `npmTag` does not exist, or it's a first release of a package.
 		.catch( () => null );
 
 	if ( npmVersion && semver.lte( version, npmVersion ) ) {
diff --git a/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/lib/utils/versions.js b/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/lib/utils/versions.js
index 556fe3de6..adca5e36c 100644
--- a/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/lib/utils/versions.js
+++ b/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/lib/utils/versions.js
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
  */
 
 import { tools } from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-dev-utils';
+import pacote from 'pacote';
 import getChangelog from './getchangelog.js';
 import getPackageJson from './getpackagejson.js';
 
@@ -37,9 +38,9 @@ export function getLastFromChangelog( cwd = process.cwd() ) {
 export function getLastPreRelease( releaseIdentifier, cwd = process.cwd() ) {
 	const packageName = getPackageJson( cwd ).name;
 
-	return tools.shExec( `npm view ${ packageName } versions --json`, { verbosity: 'silent', async: true } )
+	return pacote.packument( packageName )
 		.then( result => {
-			const lastVersion = JSON.parse( result )
+			const lastVersion = Object.keys( result.versions )
 				.filter( version => version.startsWith( releaseIdentifier ) )
 				.sort( ( a, b ) => a.localeCompare( b, undefined, { numeric: true } ) )
 				.pop();
diff --git a/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/package.json b/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/package.json
index ca9fdb0a0..25a9f520d 100644
--- a/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/package.json
+++ b/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/package.json
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
     "inquirer": "^11.0.0",
     "lodash-es": "^4.17.21",
     "minimatch": "^9.0.0",
+    "pacote": "^19.0.0",
     "semver": "^7.6.3",
     "shell-escape": "^0.2.0",
     "upath": "^2.0.1"
diff --git a/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/tasks/push.js b/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/tasks/push.js
index fbed66b09..c26881988 100644
--- a/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/tasks/push.js
+++ b/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/tasks/push.js
@@ -3,8 +3,6 @@
  * For licensing, see LICENSE.md.
  */
 
-'use strict';
-
 import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
 import { tools } from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-dev-utils';
 import shellEscape from 'shell-escape';
diff --git a/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/tasks/reassignnpmtags.js b/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/tasks/reassignnpmtags.js
index addc44512..93941c28c 100644
--- a/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/tasks/reassignnpmtags.js
+++ b/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/tasks/reassignnpmtags.js
@@ -3,8 +3,6 @@
  * For licensing, see LICENSE.md.
  */
 
-'use strict';
-
 import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
 
 import columns from 'cli-columns';
diff --git a/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/tasks/updateversions.js b/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/tasks/updateversions.js
index 3eb93c3f6..c0b7fe505 100644
--- a/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/tasks/updateversions.js
+++ b/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/tasks/updateversions.js
@@ -3,8 +3,6 @@
  * For licensing, see LICENSE.md.
  */
 
-'use strict';
-
 import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
 import { glob } from 'glob';
 import upath from 'upath';
diff --git a/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/tasks/verifypackagespublishedcorrectly.js b/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/tasks/verifypackagespublishedcorrectly.js
index afbf6c14b..dae050086 100644
--- a/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/tasks/verifypackagespublishedcorrectly.js
+++ b/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/tasks/verifypackagespublishedcorrectly.js
@@ -3,8 +3,6 @@
  * For licensing, see LICENSE.md.
  */
 
-'use strict';
-
 import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
 import { glob } from 'glob';
 import fs from 'fs-extra';
@@ -34,7 +32,7 @@ describe( 'verifyPackagesPublishedCorrectly()', () => {
 		expect( vi.mocked( checkVersionAvailability ) ).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
 	} );
 
-	it( 'should verify packages and remove them from the release directory on "npm show" command success', async () => {
+	it( 'should verify packages and remove them from the release directory on if their version are already taken', async () => {
 		vi.mocked( glob ).mockResolvedValue( [ 'package1', 'package2' ] );
 		vi.mocked( fs ).readJson
 			.mockResolvedValueOnce( { name: '@namespace/package1' } )
@@ -72,24 +70,4 @@ describe( 'verifyPackagesPublishedCorrectly()', () => {
 
 		expect( vi.mocked( fs ).remove ).toHaveBeenCalledExactlyOnceWith( 'package2' );
 	} );
-
-	it( 'should not remove package from release directory when checking version on npm throws error', async () => {
-		vi.mocked( glob ).mockResolvedValue( [ 'package1', 'package2' ] );
-		vi.mocked( fs ).readJson
-			.mockResolvedValueOnce( { name: '@namespace/package1' } )
-			.mockResolvedValueOnce( { name: '@namespace/package2' } );
-		vi.mocked( checkVersionAvailability )
-			.mockRejectedValueOnce( )
-			.mockResolvedValueOnce( false );
-
-		const packagesDirectory = '/workspace/ckeditor5/release/npm';
-		const version = 'latest';
-		const onSuccess = vi.fn();
-
-		await expect( verifyPackagesPublishedCorrectly( { packagesDirectory, version, onSuccess } ) )
-			.rejects
-			.toThrow( 'Packages that were uploaded incorrectly, and need manual verification:\n@namespace/package1' );
-
-		expect( vi.mocked( fs ).remove ).toHaveBeenCalledExactlyOnceWith( 'package2' );
-	} );
 } );
diff --git a/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/utils/checkversionavailability.js b/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/utils/checkversionavailability.js
index d0fa6c092..1fad4a5dc 100644
--- a/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/utils/checkversionavailability.js
+++ b/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/utils/checkversionavailability.js
@@ -3,61 +3,23 @@
  * For licensing, see LICENSE.md.
  */
 
-import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
-import { tools } from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-dev-utils';
-import shellEscape from 'shell-escape';
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
+import pacote from 'pacote';
 import checkVersionAvailability from '../../lib/utils/checkversionavailability.js';
 
-vi.mock( 'shell-escape' );
-vi.mock( '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-dev-utils' );
+vi.mock( 'pacote' );
 
 describe( 'checkVersionAvailability()', () => {
-	beforeEach( () => {
-		vi.mocked( shellEscape ).mockImplementation( v => v[ 0 ] );
-	} );
-
-	it( 'should resolve to true if version does not exist (npm >= 8.13.0 && npm < 10.0.0)', async () => {
-		vi.mocked( tools ).shExec.mockRejectedValue( new Error( 'npm ERR! code E404' ) );
-
-		const result = await checkVersionAvailability( '1.0.1', 'stub-package' );
-
-		expect( vi.mocked( tools ).shExec ).toHaveBeenCalledExactlyOnceWith( 'npm show stub-package@1.0.1 version', expect.any( Object ) );
-		expect( result ).toBe( true );
-	} );
-
-	it( 'should resolve to true if version does not exist (npm >= 10.0.0)', async () => {
-		vi.mocked( tools ).shExec.mockRejectedValue( new Error( 'npm error code E404' ) );
-
-		const result = await checkVersionAvailability( '1.0.1', 'stub-package' );
-		expect( vi.mocked( tools ).shExec ).toHaveBeenCalledExactlyOnceWith( 'npm show stub-package@1.0.1 version', expect.any( Object ) );
-		expect( result ).toBe( true );
-	} );
-
-	it( 'should resolve to true if version does not exist (npm < 8.13.0)', async () => {
-		vi.mocked( tools ).shExec.mockResolvedValue( '' );
+	it( 'should resolve to true if version does not exist', async () => {
+		vi.mocked( pacote.manifest ).mockRejectedValue( 'E404' );
 
 		await expect( checkVersionAvailability( '1.0.1', 'stub-package' ) ).resolves.toBe( true );
-	} );
 
+		expect( pacote.manifest ).toHaveBeenCalledExactlyOnceWith( 'stub-package@1.0.1' );
+	} );
 	it( 'should resolve to false if version exists', async () => {
-		vi.mocked( tools ).shExec.mockResolvedValue( '1.0.1' );
+		pacote.manifest.mockResolvedValue( '1.0.1' );
 
 		await expect( checkVersionAvailability( '1.0.1', 'stub-package' ) ).resolves.toBe( false );
 	} );
-
-	it( 'should re-throw an error if unknown error occurred', async () => {
-		vi.mocked( tools ).shExec.mockRejectedValue( new Error( 'Unknown error.' ) );
-
-		await expect( checkVersionAvailability( '1.0.1', 'stub-package' ) )
-			.rejects.toThrow( 'Unknown error.' );
-	} );
-
-	it( 'should escape arguments passed to a shell command', async () => {
-		vi.mocked( tools ).shExec.mockRejectedValue( new Error( 'npm ERR! code E404' ) );
-
-		await checkVersionAvailability( '1.0.1', 'stub-package' );
-		expect( vi.mocked( shellEscape ) ).toHaveBeenCalledTimes( 2 );
-		expect( vi.mocked( shellEscape ) ).toHaveBeenCalledWith( [ 'stub-package' ] );
-		expect( vi.mocked( shellEscape ) ).toHaveBeenCalledWith( [ '1.0.1' ] );
-	} );
 } );
diff --git a/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/utils/isversionpublishablefortag.js b/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/utils/isversionpublishablefortag.js
index de70dc13e..81e3f9632 100644
--- a/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/utils/isversionpublishablefortag.js
+++ b/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/utils/isversionpublishablefortag.js
@@ -3,67 +3,49 @@
  * For licensing, see LICENSE.md.
  */
 
-import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach } from 'vitest';
-import { tools } from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-dev-utils';
+import { describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
+import pacote from 'pacote';
 import semver from 'semver';
-import shellEscape from 'shell-escape';
 
 import isVersionPublishableForTag from '../../lib/utils/isversionpublishablefortag.js';
 
-vi.mock( '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-dev-utils' );
+vi.mock( 'pacote' );
 vi.mock( 'semver' );
-vi.mock( 'shell-escape' );
 
 describe( 'isVersionPublishableForTag()', () => {
-	beforeEach( () => {
-		vi.mocked( shellEscape ).mockImplementation( v => v[ 0 ] );
-	} );
-
-	it( 'should return true if given version is available', async () => {
-		vi.mocked( semver.lte ).mockReturnValue( false );
-		vi.mocked( tools.shExec ).mockResolvedValue( '1.0.0\n' );
+	it( 'should return false if given version is not available', async () => {
+		vi.mocked( semver.lte ).mockReturnValue( true );
+		vi.mocked( pacote.manifest ).mockResolvedValue( ( {
+			version: '1.0.0'
+		} ) );
 
-		const result = await isVersionPublishableForTag( 'package-name', '1.0.1', 'latest' );
+		const result = await isVersionPublishableForTag( 'package-name', '1.0.0', 'latest' );
 
-		expect( result ).to.equal( true );
-		expect( semver.lte ).toHaveBeenCalledTimes( 1 );
-		expect( semver.lte ).toHaveBeenCalledWith( '1.0.1', '1.0.0' );
-		expect( tools.shExec ).toHaveBeenCalledTimes( 1 );
-		expect( tools.shExec ).toHaveBeenCalledWith( 'npm view package-name@latest version --silent', expect.anything() );
+		expect( result ).to.equal( false );
+		expect( semver.lte ).toHaveBeenCalledExactlyOnceWith( '1.0.0', '1.0.0' );
+		expect( pacote.manifest ).toHaveBeenCalledExactlyOnceWith( 'package-name@latest' );
 	} );
 
-	it( 'should return false if given version is not available', async () => {
+	it( 'should return false if given version is not higher than the latest published', async () => {
 		vi.mocked( semver.lte ).mockReturnValue( true );
-		vi.mocked( tools.shExec ).mockResolvedValue( '1.0.0\n' );
+
+		vi.mocked( pacote.manifest ).mockResolvedValue( ( {
+			version: '1.0.1'
+		} ) );
 
 		const result = await isVersionPublishableForTag( 'package-name', '1.0.0', 'latest' );
 
 		expect( result ).to.equal( false );
-		expect( semver.lte ).toHaveBeenCalledTimes( 1 );
-		expect( semver.lte ).toHaveBeenCalledWith( '1.0.0', '1.0.0' );
-		expect( tools.shExec ).toHaveBeenCalledTimes( 1 );
-		expect( tools.shExec ).toHaveBeenCalledWith( 'npm view package-name@latest version --silent', expect.anything() );
+		expect( semver.lte ).toHaveBeenCalledExactlyOnceWith( '1.0.0', '1.0.1' );
 	} );
 
 	it( 'should return true if given npm tag is not published yet', async () => {
-		vi.mocked( tools.shExec ).mockRejectedValue( 'E404' );
+		vi.mocked( pacote.manifest ).mockRejectedValue( 'E404' );
 
 		const result = await isVersionPublishableForTag( 'package-name', '1.0.0', 'alpha' );
 
 		expect( result ).to.equal( true );
 		expect( semver.lte ).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
-		expect( tools.shExec ).toHaveBeenCalledTimes( 1 );
-		expect( tools.shExec ).toHaveBeenCalledWith( 'npm view package-name@alpha version --silent', expect.anything() );
-	} );
-
-	it( 'should escape arguments passed to a shell command', async () => {
-		vi.mocked( semver.lte ).mockReturnValue( false );
-		vi.mocked( tools.shExec ).mockResolvedValue( '1.0.0\n' );
-
-		await isVersionPublishableForTag( 'package-name', '1.0.0', 'alpha' );
-
-		expect( shellEscape ).toHaveBeenCalledTimes( 2 );
-		expect( shellEscape ).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith( 1, [ 'package-name' ] );
-		expect( shellEscape ).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith( 2, [ 'alpha' ] );
+		expect( pacote.manifest ).toHaveBeenCalledExactlyOnceWith( 'package-name@alpha' );
 	} );
 } );
diff --git a/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/utils/versions.js b/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/utils/versions.js
index c9a47a280..c774e54a1 100644
--- a/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/utils/versions.js
+++ b/packages/ckeditor5-dev-release-tools/tests/utils/versions.js
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 import { describe, it, expect, vi, beforeEach, afterEach } from 'vitest';
 import { tools } from '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-dev-utils';
+import pacote from 'pacote';
 import getChangelog from '../../lib/utils/getchangelog.js';
 import getPackageJson from '../../lib/utils/getpackagejson.js';
 
@@ -19,6 +20,7 @@ import {
 } from '../../lib/utils/versions.js';
 
 vi.mock( '@ckeditor/ckeditor5-dev-utils' );
+vi.mock( 'pacote' );
 vi.mock( '../../lib/utils/getchangelog.js' );
 vi.mock( '../../lib/utils/getpackagejson.js' );
 
@@ -103,17 +105,20 @@ describe( 'versions', () => {
 		} );
 
 		it( 'asks npm for all versions of a package', () => {
-			vi.mocked( tools.shExec ).mockResolvedValue( JSON.stringify( [] ) );
+			vi.mocked( pacote ).packument.mockResolvedValue( {
+				name: 'ckeditor5',
+				versions: {}
+			} );
 
 			return getLastPreRelease( '42.0.0-alpha' )
 				.then( () => {
-					expect( tools.shExec ).toHaveBeenCalledTimes( 1 );
-					expect( tools.shExec ).toHaveBeenCalledWith( 'npm view ckeditor5 versions --json', expect.anything() );
+					expect( vi.mocked( pacote ).packument ).toHaveBeenCalledTimes( 1 );
+					expect( vi.mocked( pacote ).packument ).toHaveBeenCalledWith( 'ckeditor5' );
 				} );
 		} );
 
 		it( 'returns null if there is no version for a package', () => {
-			vi.mocked( tools.shExec ).mockRejectedValue();
+			vi.mocked( pacote ).packument.mockRejectedValue();
 
 			return getLastPreRelease( '42.0.0-alpha' )
 				.then( result => {
@@ -122,13 +127,16 @@ describe( 'versions', () => {
 		} );
 
 		it( 'returns null if there is no pre-release version matching the release identifier', () => {
-			vi.mocked( tools.shExec ).mockResolvedValue( JSON.stringify( [
-				'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.0',
-				'37.0.0-alpha.0',
-				'37.0.0-alpha.1',
-				'41.0.0',
-				'42.0.0'
-			] ) );
+			vi.mocked( pacote ).packument.mockResolvedValue( {
+				name: 'ckeditor5',
+				versions: {
+					'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.0': {},
+					'37.0.0-alpha.0': {},
+					'37.0.0-alpha.1': {},
+					'41.0.0': {},
+					'42.0.0': {}
+				}
+			} );
 
 			return getLastPreRelease( '42.0.0-alpha' )
 				.then( result => {
@@ -137,13 +145,16 @@ describe( 'versions', () => {
 		} );
 
 		it( 'returns last pre-release version matching the release identifier', () => {
-			vi.mocked( tools.shExec ).mockResolvedValue( JSON.stringify( [
-				'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.0',
-				'37.0.0-alpha.0',
-				'37.0.0-alpha.1',
-				'41.0.0',
-				'42.0.0'
-			] ) );
+			vi.mocked( pacote ).packument.mockResolvedValue( {
+				name: 'ckeditor5',
+				versions: {
+					'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.0': {},
+					'37.0.0-alpha.0': {},
+					'37.0.0-alpha.1': {},
+					'41.0.0': {},
+					'42.0.0': {}
+				}
+			} );
 
 			return getLastPreRelease( '37.0.0-alpha' )
 				.then( result => {
@@ -152,14 +163,17 @@ describe( 'versions', () => {
 		} );
 
 		it( 'returns last pre-release version matching the release identifier (non-chronological versions order)', () => {
-			vi.mocked( tools.shExec ).mockResolvedValue( JSON.stringify( [
-				'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.0',
-				'37.0.0-alpha.0',
-				'37.0.0-alpha.2',
-				'41.0.0',
-				'42.0.0',
-				'37.0.0-alpha.1'
-			] ) );
+			vi.mocked( pacote ).packument.mockResolvedValue( {
+				name: 'ckeditor5',
+				versions: {
+					'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.0': {},
+					'37.0.0-alpha.0': {},
+					'37.0.0-alpha.2': {},
+					'41.0.0': {},
+					'42.0.0': {},
+					'37.0.0-alpha.1': {}
+				}
+			} );
 
 			return getLastPreRelease( '37.0.0-alpha' )
 				.then( result => {
@@ -168,15 +182,18 @@ describe( 'versions', () => {
 		} );
 
 		it( 'returns last pre-release version matching the release identifier (sequence numbers greater than 10)', () => {
-			vi.mocked( tools.shExec ).mockResolvedValue( JSON.stringify( [
-				'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.0',
-				'37.0.0-alpha.1',
-				'37.0.0-alpha.2',
-				'37.0.0-alpha.3',
-				'41.0.0',
-				'37.0.0-alpha.10',
-				'37.0.0-alpha.11'
-			] ) );
+			vi.mocked( pacote ).packument.mockResolvedValue( {
+				name: 'ckeditor5',
+				versions: {
+					'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.0': {},
+					'37.0.0-alpha.1': {},
+					'37.0.0-alpha.2': {},
+					'37.0.0-alpha.3': {},
+					'41.0.0': {},
+					'37.0.0-alpha.10': {},
+					'37.0.0-alpha.11': {}
+				}
+			} );
 
 			return getLastPreRelease( '37.0.0-alpha' )
 				.then( result => {
@@ -185,17 +202,20 @@ describe( 'versions', () => {
 		} );
 
 		it( 'returns last nightly version', () => {
-			vi.mocked( tools.shExec ).mockResolvedValue( JSON.stringify( [
-				'0.0.0-nightly-20230614.0',
-				'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.0',
-				'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.1',
-				'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.2',
-				'0.0.0-nightly-20230616.0',
-				'37.0.0-alpha.0',
-				'37.0.0-alpha.2',
-				'41.0.0',
-				'42.0.0'
-			] ) );
+			vi.mocked( pacote ).packument.mockResolvedValue( {
+				name: 'ckeditor5',
+				versions: {
+					'0.0.0-nightly-20230614.0': {},
+					'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.0': {},
+					'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.1': {},
+					'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.2': {},
+					'0.0.0-nightly-20230616.0': {},
+					'37.0.0-alpha.0': {},
+					'37.0.0-alpha.2': {},
+					'41.0.0': {},
+					'42.0.0': {}
+				}
+			} );
 
 			return getLastPreRelease( '0.0.0-nightly' )
 				.then( result => {
@@ -204,17 +224,20 @@ describe( 'versions', () => {
 		} );
 
 		it( 'returns last nightly version from a specified day', () => {
-			vi.mocked( tools.shExec ).mockResolvedValue( JSON.stringify( [
-				'0.0.0-nightly-20230614.0',
-				'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.0',
-				'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.1',
-				'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.2',
-				'0.0.0-nightly-20230616.0',
-				'37.0.0-alpha.0',
-				'37.0.0-alpha.2',
-				'41.0.0',
-				'42.0.0'
-			] ) );
+			vi.mocked( pacote ).packument.mockResolvedValue( {
+				name: 'ckeditor5',
+				versions: {
+					'0.0.0-nightly-20230614.0': {},
+					'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.0': {},
+					'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.1': {},
+					'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.2': {},
+					'0.0.0-nightly-20230616.0': {},
+					'37.0.0-alpha.0': {},
+					'37.0.0-alpha.2': {},
+					'41.0.0': {},
+					'42.0.0': {}
+				}
+			} );
 
 			return getLastPreRelease( '0.0.0-nightly-20230615' )
 				.then( result => {
@@ -229,15 +252,18 @@ describe( 'versions', () => {
 		} );
 
 		it( 'returns last nightly pre-release version', () => {
-			vi.mocked( tools.shExec ).mockResolvedValue( JSON.stringify( [
-				'0.0.0-nightly-20230613.0',
-				'0.0.0-nightly-20230614.0',
-				'0.0.0-nightly-20230614.1',
-				'0.0.0-nightly-20230614.2',
-				'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.0',
-				'37.0.0-alpha.0',
-				'42.0.0'
-			] ) );
+			vi.mocked( pacote ).packument.mockResolvedValue( {
+				name: 'ckeditor5',
+				versions: {
+					'0.0.0-nightly-20230613.0': {},
+					'0.0.0-nightly-20230614.0': {},
+					'0.0.0-nightly-20230614.1': {},
+					'0.0.0-nightly-20230614.2': {},
+					'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.0': {},
+					'37.0.0-alpha.0': {},
+					'42.0.0': {}
+				}
+			} );
 
 			return getLastNightly()
 				.then( result => {
@@ -252,11 +278,14 @@ describe( 'versions', () => {
 		} );
 
 		it( 'returns pre-release version with id = 0 if pre-release version was never published for the package yet', () => {
-			vi.mocked( tools.shExec ).mockResolvedValue( JSON.stringify( [
-				'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.0',
-				'37.0.0-alpha.0',
-				'42.0.0'
-			] ) );
+			vi.mocked( pacote ).packument.mockResolvedValue( {
+				name: 'ckeditor5',
+				versions: {
+					'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.0': {},
+					'37.0.0-alpha.0': {},
+					'42.0.0': {}
+				}
+			} );
 
 			return getNextPreRelease( '42.0.0-alpha' )
 				.then( result => {
@@ -265,11 +294,14 @@ describe( 'versions', () => {
 		} );
 
 		it( 'returns pre-release version with incremented id if older pre-release version was already published', () => {
-			vi.mocked( tools.shExec ).mockResolvedValue( JSON.stringify( [
-				'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.0',
-				'37.0.0-alpha.0',
-				'42.0.0-alpha.5'
-			] ) );
+			vi.mocked( pacote ).packument.mockResolvedValue( {
+				name: 'ckeditor5',
+				versions: {
+					'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.0': {},
+					'37.0.0-alpha.0': {},
+					'42.0.0-alpha.5': {}
+				}
+			} );
 
 			return getNextPreRelease( '42.0.0-alpha' )
 				.then( result => {
@@ -278,11 +310,14 @@ describe( 'versions', () => {
 		} );
 
 		it( 'returns nightly version with incremented id if older nightly version was already published', () => {
-			vi.mocked( tools.shExec ).mockResolvedValue( JSON.stringify( [
-				'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.5',
-				'37.0.0-alpha.0',
-				'42.0.0'
-			] ) );
+			vi.mocked( pacote ).packument.mockResolvedValue( {
+				name: 'ckeditor5',
+				versions: {
+					'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.5': {},
+					'37.0.0-alpha.0': {},
+					'42.0.0': {}
+				}
+			} );
 
 			return getNextPreRelease( '0.0.0-nightly' )
 				.then( result => {
@@ -304,11 +339,14 @@ describe( 'versions', () => {
 		} );
 
 		it( 'asks for a last nightly pre-release version', () => {
-			vi.mocked( tools.shExec ).mockResolvedValue( JSON.stringify( [
-				'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.0',
-				'37.0.0-alpha.0',
-				'42.0.0'
-			] ) );
+			vi.mocked( pacote ).packument.mockResolvedValue( {
+				name: 'ckeditor5',
+				versions: {
+					'0.0.0-nightly-20230615.0': {},
+					'37.0.0-alpha.0': {},
+					'42.0.0': {}
+				}
+			} );
 
 			return getNextNightly()
 				.then( result => {