diff --git a/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/pkg/steps/GraalVM.java b/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/pkg/steps/GraalVM.java
index 2487ddbcff85b..d2c4a15725048 100644
--- a/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/pkg/steps/GraalVM.java
+++ b/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/pkg/steps/GraalVM.java
@@ -126,7 +126,6 @@ public static final class Version implements Comparable<Version> {
                 "(GraalVM|native-image)( Version)? " + VersionParseHelper.VERS_FORMAT + "(?<distro>.*?)?" +
                         "(\\(Java Version (?<jfeature>[0-9]+)(\\.(?<jinterim>[0-9]*)\\.(?<jupdate>[0-9]*))?.*)?$");
 
-        static final Version UNVERSIONED = new Version("Undefined", "snapshot", Distribution.ORACLE);
         static final Version VERSION_21_3 = new Version("GraalVM 21.3", "21.3", Distribution.ORACLE);
         static final Version VERSION_21_3_0 = new Version("GraalVM 21.3.0", "21.3.0", Distribution.ORACLE);
         public static final Version VERSION_22_3_0 = new Version("GraalVM 22.3.0", "22.3.0", Distribution.ORACLE);
@@ -160,10 +159,6 @@ String getFullVersion() {
             return fullVersion;
         }
 
-        boolean isDetected() {
-            return this != UNVERSIONED;
-        }
-
         boolean isObsolete() {
             return this.compareTo(MINIMUM) < 0;
         }
@@ -204,10 +199,7 @@ static Version of(Stream<String> output) {
 
             if (lines.size() == 3) {
                 // Attempt to parse the new 3-line version scheme first.
-                Version v = VersionParseHelper.parse(lines);
-                if (v != VersionParseHelper.UNKNOWN_VERSION) {
-                    return v;
-                }
+                return VersionParseHelper.parse(lines);
             } else if (lines.size() == 1) {
                 // Old, single line version parsing logic
                 final String line = lines.get(0);
@@ -234,7 +226,8 @@ static Version of(Stream<String> output) {
                 }
             }
 
-            return UNVERSIONED;
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+                    "Cannot parse version from output: " + output.collect(Collectors.joining("\n")));
         }
 
         private static boolean isMandrel(String s) {
diff --git a/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/pkg/steps/NativeImageBuildStep.java b/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/pkg/steps/NativeImageBuildStep.java
index 948a5952fa5dc..25f2ee179e2da 100644
--- a/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/pkg/steps/NativeImageBuildStep.java
+++ b/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/pkg/steps/NativeImageBuildStep.java
@@ -216,12 +216,7 @@ public NativeImageBuildItem build(NativeConfig nativeConfig, LocalesBuildTimeCon
 
         buildRunner.setup(processInheritIODisabled.isPresent() || processInheritIODisabledBuildItem.isPresent());
         final GraalVM.Version graalVMVersion = buildRunner.getGraalVMVersion();
-
-        if (graalVMVersion.isDetected()) {
-            checkGraalVMVersion(graalVMVersion);
-        } else {
-            log.error("Unable to get GraalVM version from the native-image binary.");
-        }
+        checkGraalVMVersion(graalVMVersion);
 
         try {
             if (nativeConfig.cleanupServer()) {
@@ -568,7 +563,7 @@ static class Builder {
             private Path outputDir;
             private String runnerJarName;
             private String noPIE = "";
-            private GraalVM.Version graalVMVersion = GraalVM.Version.UNVERSIONED;
+            private GraalVM.Version graalVMVersion = null;
             private String nativeImageName;
             private boolean classpathIsBroken;
             private boolean containerBuild;
diff --git a/core/deployment/src/test/java/io/quarkus/deployment/pkg/steps/GraalVMTest.java b/core/deployment/src/test/java/io/quarkus/deployment/pkg/steps/GraalVMTest.java
index f795aab93638d..e1692954aee86 100644
--- a/core/deployment/src/test/java/io/quarkus/deployment/pkg/steps/GraalVMTest.java
+++ b/core/deployment/src/test/java/io/quarkus/deployment/pkg/steps/GraalVMTest.java
@@ -86,7 +86,6 @@ public void testGraalVMVersionDetected() {
     }
 
     static void assertVersion(org.graalvm.home.Version graalVmVersion, Distribution distro, Version version) {
-        assertThat(version.isDetected()).isEqualTo(true);
         assertThat(graalVmVersion.compareTo(version.version)).isEqualTo(0);
         assertThat(version.distribution).isEqualTo(distro);
         if (distro == MANDREL) {
@@ -94,11 +93,6 @@ static void assertVersion(org.graalvm.home.Version graalVmVersion, Distribution
         }
     }
 
-    @Test
-    public void testGraalVMVersionUndetected() {
-        assertThat(Version.of(Stream.of("foo bar")).isDetected()).isFalse();
-    }
-
     @Test
     public void testGraalVMVersionsOlderThan() {
         assertOlderThan("GraalVM Version 19.3.6 CE", "GraalVM Version 20.2.0 (Java Version 11.0.9)");