diff --git a/tools/scripts/artifacts/nx-project.test.ts b/tools/scripts/artifacts/nx-project.test.ts
index 4bedb5a..183279e 100644
--- a/tools/scripts/artifacts/nx-project.test.ts
+++ b/tools/scripts/artifacts/nx-project.test.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,13 @@
 import { expect } from '@jest/globals';
+import { execSync } from 'child_process';
 import * as fs from 'fs';
 import { NxProject, NxProjectKind } from './nx-project';
 import { globResult, packageJsonLib1 } from './test-data';
 import { Utils } from './utils';
 import { sep } from 'node:path';
+import { Version } from './version';
+
+jest.mock('child_process');
 
 afterEach(() => {
   jest.resetAllMocks();
@@ -113,3 +117,102 @@ test('regular app is always publishable regardless of public_api.ts', async () =
 
   expect(nxProject.isPublishable).toBe(true);
 });
+
+describe('NxProject.deleteArtifact', () => {
+  const JFROG_REGISTRY = 'https://cplace.jfrog.io/artifactory/cplace-npm-local';
+  const version = new Version('0.0.0', '-my-branch-46');
+
+  function anApp(): NxProject {
+    return new NxProject(
+      'my-app',
+      NxProjectKind.Application,
+      undefined,
+      version,
+      '@cplace-next'
+    );
+  }
+
+  function npmShowFails(output: string) {
+    (execSync as jest.Mock).mockImplementationOnce(() => {
+      throw Object.assign(new Error('Command failed'), {
+        status: 1,
+        stderr: Buffer.from(output),
+      });
+    });
+  }
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    jest.spyOn(fs, 'existsSync').mockReturnValue(true);
+  });
+
+  test('looks the version up in the JFrog registry, not the public one', async () => {
+    (execSync as jest.Mock).mockReturnValue(
+      Buffer.from(
+        JSON.stringify({
+          name: '@cplace-next/my-app',
+          versions: ['0.0.0-my-branch-46'],
+        })
+      )
+    );
+
+    await anApp().deleteArtifact(version);
+
+    const [command, options] = (execSync as jest.Mock).mock.calls[0];
+    expect(command).toBe(
+      `npm show @cplace-next/my-app --json --registry=${JFROG_REGISTRY}`
+    );
+    expect(options.cwd).toContain('dist/apps/my-app'.replace(/\//g, sep));
+  });
+
+  test('unpublishes the version when the registry has it', async () => {
+    (execSync as jest.Mock).mockReturnValue(
+      Buffer.from(
+        JSON.stringify({
+          name: '@cplace-next/my-app',
+          versions: ['0.0.0-my-branch-46'],
+        })
+      )
+    );
+
+    await anApp().deleteArtifact(version);
+
+    expect((execSync as jest.Mock).mock.calls[1][0]).toBe(
+      'npm unpublish @cplace-next/my-app@0.0.0-my-branch-46 --force'
+    );
+  });
+
+  test('skips the deletion when the package is unknown to the registry', async () => {
+    npmShowFails('npm error code E404\nnpm error 404 Not Found - GET ...');
+
+    await anApp().deleteArtifact(version);
+
+    expect((execSync as jest.Mock).mock.calls).toHaveLength(1);
+  });
+
+  test('skips the deletion when the registry knows other versions only', async () => {
+    (execSync as jest.Mock).mockReturnValue(
+      Buffer.from(
+        JSON.stringify({
+          name: '@cplace-next/my-app',
+          versions: ['0.0.0-my-branch-45'],
+        })
+      )
+    );
+
+    await anApp().deleteArtifact(version);
+
+    expect((execSync as jest.Mock).mock.calls).toHaveLength(1);
+  });
+
+  test('fails loudly instead of skipping when the lookup itself broke', async () => {
+    const exit = jest
+      .spyOn(process, 'exit')
+      .mockImplementation((() => undefined) as never);
+    npmShowFails('npm error code E500\nnpm error 500 Internal Server Error');
+
+    await anApp().deleteArtifact(version);
+
+    expect((execSync as jest.Mock).mock.calls).toHaveLength(1);
+    expect(exit).toHaveBeenCalledWith(1);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/tools/scripts/artifacts/nx-project.ts b/tools/scripts/artifacts/nx-project.ts
index 5b8a203..5e861dd 100644
--- a/tools/scripts/artifacts/nx-project.ts
+++ b/tools/scripts/artifacts/nx-project.ts
@@ -171,38 +171,70 @@ export class NxProject {
     }
   }
 
-  private packageExists(pkg: string, version: string) {
+  /**
+   * `npm show` has to be pinned to the JFrog registry explicitly. Run without
+   * `--registry` it resolves against whatever the current working directory's
+   * `.npmrc` configures, and from the repository root that is the public
+   * registry, where the private scope does not exist. The resulting 404 is
+   * indistinguishable from a genuinely absent version, so the deletion is
+   * skipped and the subsequent publish collides with the version that is
+   * actually there.
+   */
+  private packageExists(pkg: string, version: string): boolean {
+    const registry = getJfrogUrl();
+    const pathToProjectInDist = this.getPathToProjectInDist();
     try {
-      const scopeSearchResult = execSync(`npm show ${pkg} --json`).toString();
+      const scopeSearchResult = execSync(
+        `npm show ${pkg} --json --registry=${registry}`,
+        {
+          // The dist .npmrc carries the credentials for the registry above.
+          ...(fs.existsSync(pathToProjectInDist)
+            ? { cwd: pathToProjectInDist }
+            : {}),
+          stdio: ['ignore', 'pipe', 'pipe'],
+        }
+      ).toString();
       console.log(`Search result from registry: ${scopeSearchResult}`);
       const npmPackage = JSON.parse(scopeSearchResult);
       console.log(`Package found in registry: ${npmPackage.name}`);
       console.log(`Package versions in registry: ${npmPackage.versions}`);
       return npmPackage.versions.includes(version);
-    } catch (e) {
-      console.log(`Package ${pkg} not found in registry.`);
-      return false;
+    } catch (error: any) {
+      if (NxProject.isMissingFromRegistry(error)) {
+        console.log(`Package ${pkg} not found in registry ${registry}.`);
+        return false;
+      }
+      throw new Error(
+        `Could not determine whether ${pkg}@${version} exists in ${registry}. ` +
+          `Refusing to skip the deletion, because publishing over an existing ` +
+          `version fails with a 403. Cause: ${
+            error?.stderr?.toString() || error?.message || error
+          }`
+      );
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Only a 404 means the package or version is absent. Every other failure
+   * (auth, DNS, a registry outage) leaves the question unanswered and must not
+   * be reported as "does not exist".
+   */
+  private static isMissingFromRegistry(error: any): boolean {
+    const output = [
+      error?.stderr?.toString(),
+      error?.stdout?.toString(),
+      error?.message,
+    ]
+      .filter(Boolean)
+      .join('\n');
+    return output.includes('E404') || output.includes('404 Not Found');
+  }
+
   public async deleteArtifact(
     version: Version,
     jfrogCredentials: JfrogCredentials = null
   ) {
-    console.log('Checking if package exists in registry');
     const scopedPackage = `${this.scope}/${this.name}`;
-    if (!this.packageExists(scopedPackage, version.toString())) {
-      console.log(
-        `Package ${scopedPackage}@${version.toString()} does not exist in the registry. Skipping deletion.`
-      );
-      return;
-    }
-    console.log(
-      `Package ${scopedPackage}@${version.toString()} exists in registry`
-    );
-    console.log(
-      `About to delete artifact from Jfrog: ${this.name}@${version.toString()}`
-    );
     try {
       const pathToProjectInDist = this.getPathToProjectInDist();
       if (!fs.existsSync(pathToProjectInDist) && jfrogCredentials) {
@@ -221,6 +253,21 @@ export class NxProject {
         );
         console.log(`Generated package.json: ${this.getPrettyPackageJson()}`);
       }
+      // Has to run after the dist .npmrc exists, so the lookup is authenticated
+      // against JFrog rather than falling through to an anonymous 404.
+      console.log('Checking if package exists in registry');
+      if (!this.packageExists(scopedPackage, version.toString())) {
+        console.log(
+          `Package ${scopedPackage}@${version.toString()} does not exist in the registry. Skipping deletion.`
+        );
+        return;
+      }
+      console.log(
+        `Package ${scopedPackage}@${version.toString()} exists in registry`
+      );
+      console.log(
+        `About to delete artifact from Jfrog: ${this.name}@${version.toString()}`
+      );
       console.log(
         execSync(
           `npm unpublish ${this.scope}/${