diff --git a/apps/frontend/src/server/routes/api/tags/game-versions.ts b/apps/frontend/src/server/routes/api/tags/game-versions.ts
index 71d0e716ad..6593d78a38 100644
--- a/apps/frontend/src/server/routes/api/tags/game-versions.ts
+++ b/apps/frontend/src/server/routes/api/tags/game-versions.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,14 @@ export default defineCachedEventHandler(
 		const config = useRuntimeConfig(event)
 		const apiBaseUrl = config.apiBaseUrl || config.public.apiBaseUrl
 
-		return await $fetch<Labrinth.Tags.v2.GameVersion[]>(`${apiBaseUrl}tag/game_version`)
+		const response = await $fetch<Labrinth.Tags.v2.GameVersion[]>(`${apiBaseUrl}tag/game_version`)
+
+		// nitro wont cache if we throw an error
+		if (!response || !Array.isArray(response)) {
+			throw createError({ statusCode: 502, message: 'Invalid response from API' })
+		}
+
+		return response
 	},
 	{
 		maxAge: CACHE_MAX_AGE,