diff --git a/bilby/core/utils.py b/bilby/core/utils.py
index 020c6313838580eeb5652777c5a0fbef497ea67d..9b3195acab3f703599c6118f50dec27048cc2fe5 100644
--- a/bilby/core/utils.py
+++ b/bilby/core/utils.py
@@ -359,8 +359,8 @@ def get_version_information():
     try:
         with open(version_file, 'r') as f:
             return f.readline().rstrip()
-    except: # noqa
-        return "No version information"
+    except IOError:
+        raise IOError("No version information file '.version' found")
 
 
 def get_progress_bar(module='tqdm'):