diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 135258e007f819efd7b668a581fc2f9f1c1dd175..afb42f6f6dbdf2b866d09efecd3c3e2f5c0d74ac 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ platform or architecture.
 **note:** Installing via `npm` requires certain dependencies for the native module builds.
 See [./doc/npm.md](./doc/npm.md) for installing these dependencies.
 
+You also need at least node v12 installed. See [#1633](https://github.com/cdr/code-server/issues/1633).
+
 ```bash
 npm install -g code-server
 code-server
diff --git a/ci/build/npm-postinstall.sh b/ci/build/npm-postinstall.sh
index 171ce8245e37592f6514cfb69a23c57bf079039f..daca99d250cd12a711b7991d4a5b63559230a4a8 100755
--- a/ci/build/npm-postinstall.sh
+++ b/ci/build/npm-postinstall.sh
@@ -2,6 +2,16 @@
 set -eu
 
 main() {
+  # Grabs the major version of node from $npm_config_user_agent which looks like
+  # yarn/1.21.1 npm/? node/v14.2.0 darwin x64
+  major_node_version=$(echo "$npm_config_user_agent" | sed -n 's/.*node\/v\([^.]*\).*/\1/p')
+  if [ "$major_node_version" -lt 12 ]; then
+    echo "code-server currently requires at least node v12"
+    echo "We have detected that you are on node v$major_node_version"
+    echo "See https://github.com/cdr/code-server/issues/1633"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
   case "${npm_config_user_agent-}" in npm*)
     # We are running under npm.
     if [ "${npm_config_unsafe_perm-}" != "true" ]; then
diff --git a/ci/steps/publish-npm.sh b/ci/steps/publish-npm.sh
index 10865a6130d2b4899caafcd28e21b18b466d4624..be6161bf5c154276dc1846c76eb8d2c547188cec 100755
--- a/ci/steps/publish-npm.sh
+++ b/ci/steps/publish-npm.sh
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ main() {
 
   download_artifact npm-package ./release
   # https://github.com/actions/upload-artifact/issues/38
-  chmod +x $(grep -rl '^#!/.\+' release)
+  chmod +x $(grep -rl '^#!/.*' release)
   yarn publish --non-interactive release
 }
 
diff --git a/ci/steps/release-static.sh b/ci/steps/release-static.sh
index cd2514e77472f806664c6bcf82f6335c91bcb3c0..08a4a1fa9e6295137b1bec731ac63465d0e74310 100755
--- a/ci/steps/release-static.sh
+++ b/ci/steps/release-static.sh
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ main() {
   cd "$(dirname "$0")/../.."
 
   # https://github.com/actions/upload-artifact/issues/38
-  chmod +x $(grep -rl '^#!/.\+' release)
+  chmod +x $(grep -rl '^#!/.*' release)
 
   yarn release:static
   yarn test:static-release
diff --git a/doc/CONTRIBUTING.md b/doc/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 2eeefc47a9237362f0aac7b3fc043c252e072b5e..95d47f331964d29c02695cfa9da960b5720475cd 100644
--- a/doc/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/doc/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ Please refer to [VS Code's prerequisites](https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/wi
 
 Differences:
 
-- We are not constrained by node version
+- We require at least node v12 but later versions should work
 - We use [fnpm](https://github.com/goreleaser/nfpm) to build .deb and .rpm packages
 
 ## Development Workflow
diff --git a/doc/npm.md b/doc/npm.md
index 84712f61b159433e1c093deb92e89b0ff889b552..08704c0ca448b835c7514d30c736d4fc7d42eb62 100644
--- a/doc/npm.md
+++ b/doc/npm.md
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 If you're installing the npm module you'll need certain dependencies to build
 the native modules used by VS Code.
 
+You also need at least node v12 installed. See [#1633](https://github.com/cdr/code-server/issues/1633).
+
 ## Ubuntu, Debian
 
 ```bash
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 2b696baed70d0868f93d5705f38426dea55d291f..fbb114c93ac87db8cc6f9fa884c7436698c58fa4 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -92,5 +92,8 @@
     "coder",
     "vscode-remote",
     "browser-ide"
-  ]
+  ],
+  "engines": {
+    "node": ">= 12"
+  }
 }