diff --git a/INSTALL.md b/INSTALL.md
index 24ec984e..6d3354e2 100644
--- a/INSTALL.md
+++ b/INSTALL.md
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ some additional development tools to be installed first:
 
 * Node.js version 8, 10 or 12 (on Linux/Mac, [nvm](https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm/blob/master/README.md)
   is recommended)
+* npm version 6.9.0 or later
 * Python 2.7
 * g++ compiler
 * make
diff --git a/automation/check-npm-version.js b/automation/check-npm-version.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e5200a08
--- /dev/null
+++ b/automation/check-npm-version.js
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+'use strict';
+
+/**
+ * Check that semver v1 is greater than or equal to semver v2.
+ *
+ * We don't `require('semver')` to allow this script to be run as a npm
+ * 'preinstall' hook, at which point no dependencies have been installed.
+ */
+function semverGte(v1, v2) {
+	let v1Array, v2Array; // number[]
+	try {
+		const [, major1, minor1, patch1] = /v?(\d+)\.(\d+).(\d+)/.exec(v1);
+		const [, major2, minor2, patch2] = /v?(\d+)\.(\d+).(\d+)/.exec(v2);
+		v1Array = [parseInt(major1), parseInt(minor1), parseInt(patch1)];
+		v2Array = [parseInt(major2), parseInt(minor2), parseInt(patch2)];
+	} catch (err) {
+		throw new Error(`Invalid semver versions: '${v1}' or '${v2}'`);
+	}
+	for (let i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
+		if (v1Array[i] < v2Array[i]) {
+			return false;
+		} else if (v1Array[i] > v2Array[i]) {
+			return true;
+		}
+	}
+	return true;
+}
+
+function _testSemverGet() {
+	const assert = require('assert').strict;
+	assert(semverGte('6.4.1', '6.4.1'));
+	assert(semverGte('6.4.1', 'v6.4.1'));
+	assert(semverGte('v6.4.1', '6.4.1'));
+	assert(semverGte('v6.4.1', 'v6.4.1'));
+	assert(semverGte('6.4.1', '6.4.0'));
+	assert(semverGte('6.4.1', '6.3.1'));
+	assert(semverGte('6.4.1', '5.4.1'));
+	assert(!semverGte('6.4.1', '6.4.2'));
+	assert(!semverGte('6.4.1', '6.5.1'));
+	assert(!semverGte('6.4.1', '7.4.1'));
+
+	assert(semverGte('v6.4.1', 'v4.0.0'));
+	assert(!semverGte('v6.4.1', 'v6.9.0'));
+	assert(!semverGte('v6.4.1', 'v7.0.0'));
+}
+
+function checkNpmVersion() {
+	const execSync = require('child_process').execSync;
+	const npmVersion = execSync('npm --version')
+		.toString()
+		.trim();
+	const requiredVersion = '6.9.0';
+	if (!semverGte(npmVersion, requiredVersion)) {
+		console.error(`\
+Error: npm version '${npmVersion}' detected. Please upgrade to npm v${requiredVersion} or later
+because of a bug affecting older versions in relation to the npm-shrinkwrap.json file.`);
+		process.exit(1);
+	}
+}
+
+checkNpmVersion();
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 85c81fb8..5535f2bf 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
     ]
   },
   "scripts": {
+    "preinstall": "node automation/check-npm-version.js",
     "postinstall": "patch-package",
     "prebuild": "rimraf build/ build-bin/",
     "build": "npm run build:src",
@@ -54,7 +55,7 @@
     "test:fast": "npm run build:fast && npm run test",
     "ci": "npm run test && catch-uncommitted",
     "watch": "gulp watch",
-    "prettify": "prettier --write \"{lib,tests,automation,typings}/**/*.ts\" --config ./node_modules/resin-lint/config/.prettierrc",
+    "prettify": "prettier --write \"{lib,tests,automation,typings}/**/*.[tj]s\" --config ./node_modules/resin-lint/config/.prettierrc",
     "lint": "resin-lint lib/ tests/ && resin-lint --typescript automation/ lib/ typings/ tests/",
     "prepublishOnly": "npm run build"
   },
diff --git a/patches/@oclif+dev-cli+1.22.0.patch b/patches/@oclif+dev-cli+1.22.0.patch
index 6c84a29b..47715957 100644
--- a/patches/@oclif+dev-cli+1.22.0.patch
+++ b/patches/@oclif+dev-cli+1.22.0.patch
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ index a9d4276..75c2f8b 100644
  exports.default = PackWin;
  const scripts = {
 diff --git a/node_modules/@oclif/dev-cli/lib/tarballs/build.js b/node_modules/@oclif/dev-cli/lib/tarballs/build.js
-index 3e613e0..129d041 100644
+index 3e613e0..dd23903 100644
 --- a/node_modules/@oclif/dev-cli/lib/tarballs/build.js
 +++ b/node_modules/@oclif/dev-cli/lib/tarballs/build.js
 @@ -17,8 +17,11 @@ const pack = async (from, to) => {
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ index 3e613e0..129d041 100644
      const packCLI = async () => {
          const stdout = await qq.x.stdout('npm', ['pack', '--unsafe-perm'], { cwd: c.root });
          return path.join(c.root, stdout.split('\n').pop());
-@@ -34,6 +37,28 @@ async function build(c, options = {}) {
+@@ -34,6 +37,34 @@ async function build(c, options = {}) {
              await qq.mv(f, '.');
          await qq.rm('package', tarball, 'bin/run.cmd');
      };
@@ -75,11 +75,17 @@ index 3e613e0..129d041 100644
 +        const sources = [
 +            'bin', 'build', 'patches', 'typings', 'CHANGELOG.md', 'INSTALL.md',
 +            'LICENSE', 'package.json', 'npm-shrinkwrap.json', 'README.md',
-+            'TROUBLESHOOTING.md',
++            'TROUBLESHOOTING.md', 'automation/check-npm-version.js',
 +        ];
 +        for (const source of sources) {
++            let destDir = ws;
++            const dirname = path.dirname(source);
++            if (dirname && dirname !== '.') {
++                destDir = path.join(ws, dirname);
++                qq.mkdirp(destDir);
++            }
 +            console.log(`cp "${source}" -> "${ws}"`);
-+            await qq.cp(path.join(c.root, source), ws);
++            await qq.cp(path.join(c.root, source), destDir);
 +        }
 +        // rename the original balena-cli ./bin/balena entry point for oclif compatibility
 +        await qq.mv('bin/balena', 'bin/run');
@@ -93,7 +99,7 @@ index 3e613e0..129d041 100644
      const updatePJSON = async () => {
          qq.cd(c.workspace());
          const pjson = await qq.readJSON('package.json');
-@@ -56,7 +81,13 @@ async function build(c, options = {}) {
+@@ -56,7 +87,13 @@ async function build(c, options = {}) {
                  lockpath = qq.join(c.root, 'npm-shrinkwrap.json');
              }
              await qq.cp(lockpath, '.');
@@ -108,7 +114,7 @@ index 3e613e0..129d041 100644
          }
      };
      const buildTarget = async (target) => {
-@@ -71,7 +102,8 @@ async function build(c, options = {}) {
+@@ -71,7 +108,8 @@ async function build(c, options = {}) {
              output: path.join(workspace, 'bin', 'node'),
              platform: target.platform,
              arch: target.arch,
@@ -118,7 +124,7 @@ index 3e613e0..129d041 100644
          });
          if (options.pack === false)
              return;
-@@ -124,7 +156,8 @@ async function build(c, options = {}) {
+@@ -124,7 +162,8 @@ async function build(c, options = {}) {
          await qq.writeJSON(c.dist(config.s3Key('manifest')), manifest);
      };
      log_1.log(`gathering workspace for ${config.bin} to ${c.workspace()}`);