diff --git a/bin/main.js b/bin/main.js
index 6df70ced3..26caf5ba8 100755
--- a/bin/main.js
+++ b/bin/main.js
@@ -16,7 +16,9 @@ import { rewriteErrorMessage } from './lib/utils';
 import getTasks from './tasks';
 import fatalError from './ui/messages/errors/fatalError';
 import fetchError from './ui/messages/errors/fetchError';
+import invalidPackageJson from './ui/messages/errors/invalidPackageJson';
 import missingStories from './ui/messages/errors/missingStories';
+import noPackageJson from './ui/messages/errors/noPackageJson';
 import runtimeError from './ui/messages/errors/runtimeError';
 import taskError from './ui/messages/errors/taskError';
 import intro from './ui/messages/info/intro';
@@ -25,8 +27,18 @@ export async function main(argv) {
   const sessionId = uuid();
   const env = getEnv();
   const log = createLogger(sessionId, env);
+
   const packagePath = await pkgUp(); // the user's own package.json
+  if (!packagePath) {
+    log.error(noPackageJson());
+    process.exit(253);
+  }
+
   const packageJson = await readFile(packagePath);
+  if (typeof packageJson !== 'object' || typeof packageJson.scripts !== 'object') {
+    log.error(invalidPackageJson(packagePath));
+    process.exit(252);
+  }
 
   // Warning: chromaui/action directly invokes runAll, so if new properties or arguments are added
   // here, they must also be added to the GitHub Action.
diff --git a/bin/main.test.js b/bin/main.test.js
index 332e42196..2f652aa0f 100644
--- a/bin/main.test.js
+++ b/bin/main.test.js
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ beforeEach(() => {
     CHROMATIC_PROJECT_TOKEN: undefined,
   };
   execa.mockReset();
-  execa.mockReturnValue({ stdout: '1.2.3' });
+  execa.mockReturnValue(Promise.resolve({ stdout: '1.2.3' }));
 });
 afterEach(() => {
   process.env = processEnv;
diff --git a/bin/tasks/build.test.js b/bin/tasks/build.test.js
index 32219f235..c0a680efa 100644
--- a/bin/tasks/build.test.js
+++ b/bin/tasks/build.test.js
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ describe('setSpawnParams', () => {
 
   beforeEach(() => {
     process.env.npm_execpath = npmExecPath;
-    execa.mockReturnValue({ stdout: '1.2.3' });
+    execa.mockReturnValue(Promise.resolve({ stdout: '1.2.3' }));
   });
 
   it('sets the spawn params on the context', async () => {
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ describe('setSpawnParams', () => {
     expect(ctx.spawnParams).toEqual({
       client: 'npm',
       clientVersion: '1.2.3',
+      nodeVersion: '1.2.3',
       platform: expect.stringMatching(/darwin|linux|win32/),
       command: 'npm',
       clientArgs: ['run', '--silent'],
@@ -61,10 +62,6 @@ describe('setSpawnParams', () => {
         '--webpack-stats-json',
         './source-dir/',
       ],
-      spawnOptions: {
-        preferLocal: true,
-        localDir: expect.stringMatching(/node_modules[/\\]\.bin$/),
-      },
     });
   });
 
@@ -80,14 +77,11 @@ describe('setSpawnParams', () => {
     expect(ctx.spawnParams).toEqual({
       client: 'yarn',
       clientVersion: '1.2.3',
+      nodeVersion: '1.2.3',
       platform: expect.stringMatching(/darwin|linux|win32/),
       command: expect.stringMatching(/node/),
       clientArgs: ['/path/to/yarn.js', 'run'],
       scriptArgs: ['build:storybook', '--output-dir', './source-dir/'],
-      spawnOptions: {
-        preferLocal: true,
-        localDir: expect.stringMatching(/node_modules[/\\]\.bin$/),
-      },
     });
   });
 
diff --git a/bin/ui/messages/errors/invalidPackageJson.js b/bin/ui/messages/errors/invalidPackageJson.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b7b29bf48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/ui/messages/errors/invalidPackageJson.js
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+import chalk from 'chalk';
+import dedent from 'ts-dedent';
+
+import { error } from '../../components/icons';
+
+export default (packagePath) =>
+  dedent(chalk`
+    ${error} {bold Invalid package.json}
+    Found invalid package.json at {bold ${packagePath}}
+    Make sure this is a valid Node.js package file, is readable, and contains a {bold "scripts"} block.
+  `);
diff --git a/bin/ui/messages/errors/invalidPackageJson.stories.js b/bin/ui/messages/errors/invalidPackageJson.stories.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1a92022ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/ui/messages/errors/invalidPackageJson.stories.js
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+import invalidPackageJson from './invalidPackageJson';
+
+export default {
+  title: 'CLI/Messages/Errors',
+};
+
+export const InvalidPackageJson = () => invalidPackageJson('/path/to/package.json');
diff --git a/bin/ui/messages/errors/noPackageJson.js b/bin/ui/messages/errors/noPackageJson.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9a5414983
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/ui/messages/errors/noPackageJson.js
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+import chalk from 'chalk';
+import dedent from 'ts-dedent';
+
+import { error } from '../../components/icons';
+
+export default () =>
+  dedent(chalk`
+    ${error} {bold No package.json found}
+    Chromatic only works from inside a JavaScript project.
+    We expected to find a package.json somewhere up the directory tree.
+    Are you sure you're running from your project directory?
+  `);
diff --git a/bin/ui/messages/errors/noPackageJson.stories.js b/bin/ui/messages/errors/noPackageJson.stories.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7d0347fa9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/ui/messages/errors/noPackageJson.stories.js
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+import noPackageJson from './noPackageJson';
+
+export default {
+  title: 'CLI/Messages/Errors',
+};
+
+export const NoPackageJson = () => noPackageJson();