diff --git a/scripts/set-rn-version.js b/scripts/set-rn-version.js
index 4e04fe2fe64975..8910f606b0a336 100755
--- a/scripts/set-rn-version.js
+++ b/scripts/set-rn-version.js
@@ -38,7 +38,12 @@ let argv = yargs
 
 const buildType = argv.buildType;
 const version = argv.toVersion;
-validateBuildType(buildType);
+
+try {
+  validateBuildType(buildType);
+} catch (e) {
+  throw e;
+}
 
 let major,
   minor,
@@ -47,8 +52,7 @@ let major,
 try {
   ({major, minor, patch, prerelease} = parseVersion(version, buildType));
 } catch (e) {
-  echo(e.message);
-  exit(1);
+  throw e;
 }
 
 const tmpVersioningFolder = fs.mkdtempSync(
diff --git a/scripts/test-e2e-local.js b/scripts/test-e2e-local.js
index 6ade2825b6ea58..e96278b40c9f82 100644
--- a/scripts/test-e2e-local.js
+++ b/scripts/test-e2e-local.js
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 const {exec, exit, pushd, popd, pwd, cd, cp} = require('shelljs');
 const yargs = require('yargs');
 const fs = require('fs');
-const {getBranchName} = require('./scm-utils');
 
 const {
   launchAndroidEmulator,
@@ -147,11 +146,9 @@ if (argv.target === 'RNTester') {
   // we need to add the unique timestamp to avoid npm/yarn to use some local caches
   const baseVersion = require('../package.json').version;
 
-  const branchName = getBranchName();
-  const buildType =
-    branchName.endsWith('-stable') && baseVersion !== '1000.0.0'
-      ? 'release'
-      : 'dry-run';
+  // in local testing, 1000.0.0 mean we are on main, every other case means we are
+  // working on a release version
+  const buildType = baseVersion !== '1000.0.0' ? 'release' : 'dry-run';
 
   const dateIdentifier = new Date()
     .toISOString()
@@ -162,10 +159,17 @@ if (argv.target === 'RNTester') {
   const releaseVersion = `${baseVersion}-${dateIdentifier}`;
 
   // this is needed to generate the Android artifacts correctly
-  exec(
+  const exitCode = exec(
     `node scripts/set-rn-version.js --to-version ${releaseVersion} --build-type ${buildType}`,
   ).code;
 
+  if (exitCode !== 0) {
+    console.error(
+      `Failed to set the RN version. Version ${releaseVersion} is not valid for ${buildType}`,
+    );
+    process.exit(exitCode);
+  }
+
   // Generate native files for Android
   generateAndroidArtifacts(releaseVersion);
 
diff --git a/scripts/version-utils.js b/scripts/version-utils.js
index f482e1cc70a8a6..661eccb97c733f 100644
--- a/scripts/version-utils.js
+++ b/scripts/version-utils.js
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ const VERSION_REGEX = /^v?((\d+)\.(\d+)\.(\d+)(?:-(.+))?)$/;
  * Some examples of valid versions are:
  * - stable: 0.68.1
  * - stable prerelease: 0.70.0-rc.0
- * - nightly: 0.0.0-20221116-2018-0bc4547fc | 0.0.0
+ * - e2e-test: X.Y.Z-20221116-2018
+ * - nightly: 0.0.0-20221116-2018-0bc4547fc
  * - dryrun: 1000.0.0
  *
  * Parameters:
@@ -38,7 +39,11 @@ const VERSION_REGEX = /^v?((\d+)\.(\d+)\.(\d+)(?:-(.+))?)$/;
  *
  */
 function parseVersion(versionStr, buildType) {
-  validateBuildType(buildType);
+  try {
+    validateBuildType(buildType);
+  } catch (e) {
+    throw e;
+  }
 
   const match = extractMatchIfValid(versionStr);
   const [, version, major, minor, patch, prerelease] = match;
@@ -51,7 +56,11 @@ function parseVersion(versionStr, buildType) {
     prerelease,
   };
 
-  validateVersion(versionObject, buildType);
+  try {
+    validateVersion(versionObject, buildType);
+  } catch (e) {
+    throw e;
+  }
 
   return versionObject;
 }
@@ -125,7 +134,8 @@ function isStablePrerelease(version) {
     version.patch === '0' &&
     version.prerelease != null &&
     (version.prerelease.startsWith('rc.') ||
-      version.prerelease.startsWith('rc-'))
+      version.prerelease.startsWith('rc-') ||
+      version.prerelease.match(/^(\d{8})-(\d{4})$/))
   );
 }