diff --git a/src/babashka/pods/impl/resolver.clj b/src/babashka/pods/impl/resolver.clj
index 342344c..4cc91c7 100644
--- a/src/babashka/pods/impl/resolver.clj
+++ b/src/babashka/pods/impl/resolver.clj
@@ -18,20 +18,26 @@
 (def os {:os/name (System/getProperty "os.name")
          :os/arch (let [arch (System/getProperty "os.arch")]
                     (normalize-arch arch))})
-
 (defn warn [& strs]
   (binding [*out* *err*]
     (apply println strs)))
 
 (defn match-artifacts [package]
-  (let [artifacts (:pod/artifacts package)]
-    (filter (fn [{os-name :os/name
-                  os-arch :os/arch}]
-              (let [os-arch (normalize-arch os-arch)]
-                (and (re-matches (re-pattern os-name) (:os/name os))
-                     (re-matches (re-pattern os-arch)
-                                 (:os/arch os)))))
-            artifacts)))
+  (let [artifacts (:pod/artifacts package)
+        res (filter (fn [{os-name :os/name
+                          os-arch :os/arch}]
+                      (let [os-arch (normalize-arch os-arch)]
+                        (and (re-matches (re-pattern os-name) (:os/name os))
+                             (re-matches (re-pattern os-arch)
+                                         (:os/arch os)))))
+                    artifacts)]
+    (when (empty? res)
+      (throw (IllegalArgumentException. (format "No executable found for pod %s (%s) and OS %s/%s"
+                                                (:pod/name package)
+                                                (:pod/version package)
+                                                (:os/name os)
+                                                (:os/arch os)))))
+    res))
 
 (defn unzip [{:keys [^java.io.File zip-file
                      ^java.io.File destination-dir
@@ -149,7 +155,8 @@
         (String. "UTF-8"))))
 
 (defn resolve [qsym version force?]
-  (assert (string? version) "Version must be provided!")
+  (when-not (string? version)
+    (throw (IllegalArgumentException. "Version must be provided for resolving from pod registry!")))
   (when-let [manifest (pod-manifest qsym version force?)]
     (let [artifacts (match-artifacts manifest)
           cdir (cache-dir manifest)
diff --git a/test-resources/pod_registry.clj b/test-resources/pod_registry.clj
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9199173
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test-resources/pod_registry.clj
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+(require '[babashka.pods :as pods])
+
+(pods/load-pod 'org.babashka/buddy "0.0.1")
+
+(require '[pod.babashka.buddy.codecs :as codecs]
+         '[pod.babashka.buddy.hash :as hash])
+
+(println (-> (hash/sha256 "foobar")
+             (codecs/bytes->hex)))
+
+(pods/load-pod 'org.babashka/etaoin) ;; should cause error when version is missing
diff --git a/test/babashka/pods/jvm_test.clj b/test/babashka/pods/jvm_test.clj
index 30df013..48f3dfd 100644
--- a/test/babashka/pods/jvm_test.clj
+++ b/test/babashka/pods/jvm_test.clj
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 (ns babashka.pods.jvm-test
-  (:require [babashka.pods.test-common :refer [test-program assertions]]
-            [clojure.test :refer [deftest]]))
+  (:require [babashka.pods.test-common :refer [test-program assertions
+                                               pod-registry]]
+            [clojure.string :as str]
+            [clojure.test :refer [deftest is]]))
 
 (deftest jvm-test
   (let [out (java.io.StringWriter.)
@@ -12,3 +14,15 @@
                    (catch Exception e (prn e))))]
 
     (assertions out err ret)))
+
+(deftest pod-registry-test
+  (let [out (java.io.StringWriter.)
+        err (java.io.StringWriter.)
+        ex (binding [*out* out
+                      *err* err]
+              (try (load-string
+                    pod-registry)
+                   (catch Exception e
+                     e)))]
+    (is (str/includes? (str out) "c3ab8ff13720e8ad9047dd39466b3c8974e592c2fa383d4a3960714caef0c4f2"))
+    (is (str/includes? (pr-str ex) "Version must be provided" ))))
diff --git a/test/babashka/pods/sci_test.clj b/test/babashka/pods/sci_test.clj
index 431284d..883adbe 100644
--- a/test/babashka/pods/sci_test.clj
+++ b/test/babashka/pods/sci_test.clj
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 (ns babashka.pods.sci-test
   (:require [babashka.pods.sci :as pods]
-            [babashka.pods.test-common :refer [test-program assertions]]
-            [clojure.test :refer [deftest]]
+            [babashka.pods.test-common :refer [test-program assertions pod-registry]]
+            [clojure.string :as str]
+            [clojure.test :refer [deftest is]]
             [sci.core :as sci]))
 
 (deftest sci-test
@@ -19,3 +20,15 @@
                           sci/err err]
               (sci/eval-string* ctx test-program))]
     (assertions out err ret)))
+
+(deftest pod-registry-test
+  (let [out (java.io.StringWriter.)
+        err (java.io.StringWriter.)
+        ex (binding [*out* out
+                     *err* err]
+             (try (load-string
+                   pod-registry)
+                  (catch Exception e
+                    e)))]
+    (is (str/includes? (str out) "c3ab8ff13720e8ad9047dd39466b3c8974e592c2fa383d4a3960714caef0c4f2"))
+    (is (str/includes? (pr-str ex) "Version must be provided" ))))
diff --git a/test/babashka/pods/test_common.clj b/test/babashka/pods/test_common.clj
index 6012d6d..3ee5ddd 100644
--- a/test/babashka/pods/test_common.clj
+++ b/test/babashka/pods/test_common.clj
@@ -30,3 +30,5 @@
       (is (= expected actual))))
   (is (= "(\"hello\" \"print\" \"this\" \"debugging\" \"message\")\n:foo\n:foo\n" (str out)))
   (is (= "(\"hello\" \"print\" \"this\" \"error\")\n" (str err))))
+
+(def pod-registry (slurp (io/file "test-resources" "pod_registry.clj")))