diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-publish.yml b/.github/workflows/release-publish.yml
index 1e4efdcf377..306a8bf0f53 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-publish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-publish.yml
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Setup and Build ARM64
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-nodejs-blacksmith
+        env:
+          N8N_FAIL_ON_POPULARITY_FETCH_ERROR: true
 
   publish-to-npm:
     name: Publish to NPM
@@ -40,6 +42,8 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Setup and Build
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-nodejs-github
+        env:
+          N8N_FAIL_ON_POPULARITY_FETCH_ERROR: true
 
       - name: Dry-run publishing
         run: |
diff --git a/packages/frontend/editor-ui/scripts/fetch-node-popularity.mjs b/packages/frontend/editor-ui/scripts/fetch-node-popularity.mjs
index 1e544623727..7c84a63257d 100755
--- a/packages/frontend/editor-ui/scripts/fetch-node-popularity.mjs
+++ b/packages/frontend/editor-ui/scripts/fetch-node-popularity.mjs
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ const __dirname = path.dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
 const POPULARITY_ENDPOINT =
 	process.env.NODE_POPULARITY_ENDPOINT ||
 	'https://internal.users.n8n.cloud/webhook/nodes-popularity-scores';
+const FAIL_ON_ERROR = process.env.N8N_FAIL_ON_POPULARITY_FETCH_ERROR === 'true';
 const BUILD_DIR = path.join(__dirname, '..', '.build');
 const OUTPUT_FILE = path.join(BUILD_DIR, 'node-popularity.json');
 
@@ -76,13 +77,24 @@ async function main() {
 			// Save the fresh data
 			await savePopularityData(freshData);
 		} else {
-			// Fetching failed, check if we have existing data
+			// Fetching failed
+			if (FAIL_ON_ERROR) {
+				console.error('N8N_FAIL_ON_POPULARITY_FETCH_ERROR is set - failing build');
+				process.exit(1);
+			}
+
+			// Check if we have existing data
 			console.log('API unavailable, checking for existing cached data');
 			await fallbackToExistingData();
 		}
 	} catch (error) {
 		console.error('Error in fetch-node-popularity script:', error);
 
+		if (FAIL_ON_ERROR) {
+			console.error('N8N_FAIL_ON_POPULARITY_FETCH_ERROR is set - failing build');
+			process.exit(1);
+		}
+
 		await fallbackToExistingData();
 	}
 }
diff --git a/packages/frontend/editor-ui/turbo.json b/packages/frontend/editor-ui/turbo.json
index 284e9bdced6..0f39073459a 100644
--- a/packages/frontend/editor-ui/turbo.json
+++ b/packages/frontend/editor-ui/turbo.json
@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@
 			"dependsOn": ["popularity-cache-marker"],
 			"cache": true,
 			"outputs": [".build/node-popularity.json"],
-			"inputs": ["scripts/fetch-node-popularity.mjs", ".build/cache-marker"]
+			"inputs": ["scripts/fetch-node-popularity.mjs", ".build/cache-marker"],
+			"env": ["N8N_FAIL_ON_POPULARITY_FETCH_ERROR"]
 		},
 		"build": {
 			"dependsOn": ["^build", "fetch-popularity"],