diff --git a/packages/api/core/src/api/import.ts b/packages/api/core/src/api/import.ts
index 9dfdc8e074..4631753b4a 100644
--- a/packages/api/core/src/api/import.ts
+++ b/packages/api/core/src/api/import.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import path from 'path';
 import initGit from './init-scripts/init-git';
 import { deps, devDeps, exactDevDeps } from './init-scripts/init-npm';
 
+import { updateElectronDependency } from '../util/electron-version';
 import { setInitialForgeConfig } from '../util/forge-config';
 import { info, warn } from '../util/messages';
 import installDepList, { DepType, DepVersionRestriction } from '../util/install-dependencies';
@@ -15,25 +16,6 @@ import upgradeForgeConfig, { updateUpgradedForgeDevDeps } from'../util/upgrade-f
 
 const d = debug('electron-forge:import');
 
-function findElectronDep(dep: string): boolean {
-  return ['electron', 'electron-prebuilt', 'electron-prebuilt-compile'].includes(dep);
-}
-
-function updateElectronDependency(packageJSON: any, dev: string[], exact: string[]): [string[], string[]] {
-  if (Object.keys(packageJSON.devDependencies).find(findElectronDep)) {
-    exact = exact.filter(dep => dep !== 'electron');
-  } else {
-    const electronKey = Object.keys(packageJSON.dependencies).find(findElectronDep);
-    if (electronKey) {
-      d(`Moving ${electronKey} from dependencies to devDependencies`);
-      dev.push(`${electronKey}@${packageJSON.dependencies[electronKey]}`);
-      delete packageJSON.dependencies[electronKey];
-    }
-  }
-
-  return [dev, exact];
-}
-
 export interface ImportOptions {
   /**
    * The path to the app to be imported
diff --git a/packages/api/core/src/api/make.ts b/packages/api/core/src/api/make.ts
index e4d2d0ec32..5f6617872c 100644
--- a/packages/api/core/src/api/make.ts
+++ b/packages/api/core/src/api/make.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import parseArchs from '../util/parse-archs';
 import { readMutatedPackageJson } from '../util/read-package-json';
 import resolveDir from '../util/resolve-dir';
 import getCurrentOutDir from '../util/out-dir';
-import getElectronVersion from '../util/electron-version';
+import { getElectronVersion } from '../util/electron-version';
 import requireSearch from '../util/require-search';
 
 import packager from './package';
diff --git a/packages/api/core/src/api/package.ts b/packages/api/core/src/api/package.ts
index 34b45306e1..b60ed0bb4b 100644
--- a/packages/api/core/src/api/package.ts
+++ b/packages/api/core/src/api/package.ts
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ import rebuildHook from '../util/rebuild';
 import requireSearch from '../util/require-search';
 import resolveDir from '../util/resolve-dir';
 import getCurrentOutDir from '../util/out-dir';
-import getElectronVersion from '../util/electron-version';
+import { getElectronVersion } from '../util/electron-version';
 
 const { host: hostArch }: { host: () => ForgeArch | 'all' } = require('electron-download/lib/arch');
 
diff --git a/packages/api/core/src/api/start.ts b/packages/api/core/src/api/start.ts
index ce8e9a47fa..34a0a1f784 100644
--- a/packages/api/core/src/api/start.ts
+++ b/packages/api/core/src/api/start.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import rebuild from '../util/rebuild';
 import resolveDir from '../util/resolve-dir';
 import getForgeConfig from '../util/forge-config';
 import { runHook } from '../util/hook';
-import getElectronVersion from '../util/electron-version';
+import { getElectronVersion } from '../util/electron-version';
 
 export { StartOptions };
 
diff --git a/packages/api/core/src/util/electron-version.ts b/packages/api/core/src/util/electron-version.ts
index 28c8dacc3f..bca17ab889 100644
--- a/packages/api/core/src/util/electron-version.ts
+++ b/packages/api/core/src/util/electron-version.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,40 @@
-export default (packageJSON: any) => {
-  if (!packageJSON.devDependencies) return null;
-  return (packageJSON.devDependencies['electron-prebuilt-compile']
-      || packageJSON.devDependencies['electron-prebuilt']
-      || packageJSON.devDependencies.electron);
+import debug from 'debug';
+
+const d = debug('electron-forge:electron-version');
+
+const electronPackageNames = [
+  'electron-prebuilt-compile',
+  'electron-prebuilt',
+  'electron',
+];
+
+function findElectronDep(dep: string): boolean {
+  return electronPackageNames.includes(dep);
+}
+
+export function getElectronVersion (packageJSON: any) {
+  if (!packageJSON.devDependencies) {
+    throw new Error('package.json for app does not have any devDependencies'.red);
+  }
+  const packageName = electronPackageNames.find(pkg => packageJSON.devDependencies[pkg]);
+  if (packageName === undefined) {
+    throw new Error('Could not find any Electron packages in devDependencies');
+  }
+  return packageJSON.devDependencies[packageName];
 };
+
+export function updateElectronDependency(packageJSON: any, dev: string[], exact: string[]): [string[], string[]] {
+  if (Object.keys(packageJSON.devDependencies).find(findElectronDep)) {
+    exact = exact.filter(dep => dep !== 'electron');
+  } else {
+    const electronKey = Object.keys(packageJSON.dependencies).find(findElectronDep);
+    if (electronKey) {
+      exact = exact.filter(dep => dep !== 'electron');
+      d(`Moving ${electronKey} from dependencies to devDependencies`);
+      dev.push(`${electronKey}@${packageJSON.dependencies[electronKey]}`);
+      delete packageJSON.dependencies[electronKey];
+    }
+  }
+
+  return [dev, exact];
+}
diff --git a/packages/api/core/src/util/resolve-dir.ts b/packages/api/core/src/util/resolve-dir.ts
index 985885dbc1..4eea41f9ea 100644
--- a/packages/api/core/src/util/resolve-dir.ts
+++ b/packages/api/core/src/util/resolve-dir.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import debug from 'debug';
 import fs from 'fs-extra';
 import path from 'path';
 import { readRawPackageJson } from './read-package-json';
-import getElectronVersion from './electron-version';
+import { getElectronVersion } from './electron-version';
 
 const d = debug('electron-forge:project-resolver');
 
diff --git a/packages/api/core/test/fast/electron-version_spec.ts b/packages/api/core/test/fast/electron-version_spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c49eec4282
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/api/core/test/fast/electron-version_spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+import { expect } from 'chai';
+import { getElectronVersion, updateElectronDependency } from '../../src/util/electron-version';
+import { deps, devDeps, exactDevDeps } from '../../src/api/init-scripts/init-npm';
+
+describe.only('updateElectronDependency', () => {
+  it('adds an Electron dep if one does not already exist', () => {
+    const packageJSON = { dependencies: {}, devDependencies: {} };
+    const [dev, exact] = updateElectronDependency(packageJSON, devDeps, exactDevDeps);
+    expect(dev).to.deep.equal(devDeps);
+    expect(exact).to.deep.equal(exactDevDeps);
+  });
+  it('does not add an Electron dep if one already exists', () => {
+    const packageJSON = {
+      dependencies: {},
+      devDependencies: { electron: '0.37.0' },
+    };
+    const [dev, exact] = updateElectronDependency(packageJSON, devDeps, exactDevDeps);
+    expect(dev).to.deep.equal(devDeps);
+    expect(exact).to.deep.equal([]);
+  });
+  it('moves an Electron dependency from dependencies to devDependencies', () => {
+    const packageJSON = {
+      dependencies: { electron: '0.37.0'},
+      devDependencies: { },
+    };
+    const [dev, exact] = updateElectronDependency(packageJSON, devDeps, exactDevDeps);
+    expect(dev.includes('electron@0.37.0')).to.equal(true);
+    expect(exact).to.deep.equal([]);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('getElectronVersion', () => {
+  it('fails without devDependencies', () => {
+    expect(() => getElectronVersion({})).to.throw('does not have any devDependencies');
+  });
+
+  it('fails without electron devDependencies', () => {
+    expect(() => getElectronVersion({ devDependencies: {} })).to.throw('Electron packages in devDependencies');
+  });
+
+  it('works with electron-prebuilt-compile', () => {
+    const packageJSON = {
+      devDependencies: { 'electron-prebuilt-compile': '1.0.0' },
+    };
+    expect(getElectronVersion(packageJSON)).to.be.equal('1.0.0');
+  });
+
+  it('works with electron-prebuilt', () => {
+    const packageJSON = {
+      devDependencies: { 'electron-prebuilt': '1.0.0' },
+    };
+    expect(getElectronVersion(packageJSON)).to.be.equal('1.0.0');
+  });
+
+  it('works with electron', () => {
+    const packageJSON = {
+      devDependencies: { 'electron': '1.0.0' },
+    };
+    expect(getElectronVersion(packageJSON)).to.be.equal('1.0.0');
+  });
+});