diff --git a/ci/steps/publish-npm.sh b/ci/steps/publish-npm.sh
index 7bd497d00..ea65780d8 100755
--- a/ci/steps/publish-npm.sh
+++ b/ci/steps/publish-npm.sh
@@ -5,6 +5,14 @@ main() {
   cd "$(dirname "$0")/../.."
   source ./ci/lib.sh
 
+  # npm view won't exit with non-zero so we have to check the output.
+  local hasVersion
+  hasVersion=$(npm view "code-server@$VERSION" version)
+  if [[ $hasVersion == "$VERSION" ]]; then
+    echo "$VERSION is already published"
+    return
+  fi
+
   if [[ ${CI-} ]]; then
     echo "//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken=${NPM_TOKEN}" > ~/.npmrc
   fi