---
type: Fixed
pr: 4572
---
**`npm run check:env`'s npm-version check no longer misreports a timeout as a missing binary** — every `spawnSync` failure mode (ENOENT, a signal-killed timeout under load, a non-zero exit) used to collapse into one message, "npm binary not found on PATH." Discovered live: an unrelated PR's Windows CI shard failed this check twice under heavy concurrent test load, and the message made a real timeout indistinguishable from npm genuinely being absent. The reason is now reported accurately, and the check's own timeout was raised from 10s to 15s to match this repo's other npm-subprocess calls. (#4460)