diff --git a/start-configuration b/start-configuration
index deb6e792..efb837aa 100644
--- a/start-configuration
+++ b/start-configuration
@@ -71,11 +71,8 @@ case "X$VERSION" in
   XSNAPSHOT|Xsnapshot)
     VANILLA_VERSION=$(curl -fsSL $VERSIONS_JSON | jq -r '.latest.snapshot')
   ;;
-  X[1-9]*)
-    VANILLA_VERSION=$VERSION
-  ;;
   *)
-    VANILLA_VERSION=$(curl -fsSL $VERSIONS_JSON | jq -r '.latest.release')
+    VANILLA_VERSION=$VERSION
   ;;
 esac
 export VANILLA_VERSION
diff --git a/start-deployVanilla b/start-deployVanilla
index 59283b15..c7c9d05f 100644
--- a/start-deployVanilla
+++ b/start-deployVanilla
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ if [ ! -e $SERVER ] || [ -n "$FORCE_REDOWNLOAD" ]; then
   if [ $result != 0 ]; then
     log "ERROR failed to obtain version manifest from $versionManifestUrl ($result)"
     exit 1
+  elif [ $serverDownloadUrl = null ]; then
+    log "ERROR version $VANILLA_VERSION does not provide a server download"
+    exit 1
   fi
 
   debug "Downloading server from $serverDownloadUrl"