diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 73ae7f18495d..4eaa5eac73ca 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@
     "yalc:publish": "lerna run yalc:publish"
   },
   "volta": {
-    "node": "18.20.5",
+    "node": "20.18.2",
     "yarn": "1.22.22",
     "pnpm": "9.15.0"
   },
diff --git a/packages/browser/src/eventbuilder.ts b/packages/browser/src/eventbuilder.ts
index acec653c5ee6..fc2654d2b4d7 100644
--- a/packages/browser/src/eventbuilder.ts
+++ b/packages/browser/src/eventbuilder.ts
@@ -199,6 +199,14 @@ export function extractType(ex: Error & { message: { error?: Error } }): string
 export function extractMessage(ex: Error & { message: { error?: Error } }): string {
   const message = ex?.message;
 
+  if (isWebAssemblyException(ex)) {
+    // For Node 18, Emscripten sets array[type, message] to the "message" property on the WebAssembly.Exception object
+    if (Array.isArray(ex.message) && ex.message.length == 2) {
+      return ex.message[1];
+    }
+    return 'wasm exception';
+  }
+
   if (!message) {
     return 'No error message';
   }
@@ -207,11 +215,6 @@ export function extractMessage(ex: Error & { message: { error?: Error } }): stri
     return message.error.message;
   }
 
-  // Emscripten sets array[type, message] to the "message" property on the WebAssembly.Exception object
-  if (isWebAssemblyException(ex) && Array.isArray(ex.message) && ex.message.length == 2) {
-    return ex.message[1];
-  }
-
   return message;
 }