diff --git a/build/gulpfile.vscode.js b/build/gulpfile.vscode.js
index 14b20f716cd..fe21519f3d4 100644
--- a/build/gulpfile.vscode.js
+++ b/build/gulpfile.vscode.js
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ const crypto = require('crypto');
 const i18n = require('./lib/i18n');
 const glob = require('glob');
 const deps = require('./dependencies');
+const getElectronVersion = require('./lib/electron').getElectronVersion;
 
 const productionDependencies = deps.getProductionDependencies(path.dirname(__dirname));
 const baseModules = Object.keys(process.binding('natives')).filter(n => !/^_|\//.test(n));
@@ -123,7 +124,7 @@ gulp.task('minify-vscode', ['clean-minified-vscode', 'optimize-index-js'], commo
 const darwinCreditsTemplate = product.darwinCredits && _.template(fs.readFileSync(path.join(root, product.darwinCredits), 'utf8'));
 
 const config = {
-	version: packageJson.electronVersion,
+	version: getElectronVersion(),
 	productAppName: product.nameLong,
 	companyName: 'Microsoft Corporation',
 	copyright: 'Copyright (C) 2017 Microsoft. All rights reserved',
diff --git a/build/lib/electron.js b/build/lib/electron.js
index 13f698739f3..9e8a48e1858 100644
--- a/build/lib/electron.js
+++ b/build/lib/electron.js
@@ -21,9 +21,8 @@ module.exports.getElectronVersion = getElectronVersion;
 // returns 0 if the right version of electron is in .build/electron
 if (require.main === module) {
 	const version = getElectronVersion();
-	console.log(version);
-
 	const versionFile = path.join(root, '.build', 'electron', 'version');
 	const isUpToDate = fs.existsSync(versionFile) && fs.readFileSync(versionFile, 'utf8') === `v${version}`;
+
 	process.exit(isUpToDate ? 0 : 1);
 }
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 9f89294570e..9d20d58974f 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "code-oss-dev",
   "version": "1.19.0",
-  "electronVersion": "1.7.9",
   "distro": "4120b819fd97e23adef120e48ceaa7d47c213c2c",
   "author": {
     "name": "Microsoft Corporation"
diff --git a/scripts/code-cli.bat b/scripts/code-cli.bat
index d5e4f44b7d6..f08ddb744e0 100644
--- a/scripts/code-cli.bat
+++ b/scripts/code-cli.bat
@@ -13,14 +13,9 @@ set NAMESHORT=%NAMESHORT: "=%
 set NAMESHORT=%NAMESHORT:"=%.exe
 set CODE=".build\electron\%NAMESHORT%"
 
-for /f "tokens=2 delims=:," %%a in ('findstr /R /C:"\"electronVersion\":.*" package.json') do set DESIREDVERSION=%%~a
-set DESIREDVERSION=%DESIREDVERSION: "=%
-set DESIREDVERSION=v%DESIREDVERSION:"=%
-if exist .\.build\electron\version (set /p INSTALLEDVERSION=<.\.build\electron\version) else (set INSTALLEDVERSION="")
-
-:: Get electron
-if not exist %CODE% node .\node_modules\gulp\bin\gulp.js electron
-if not "%INSTALLEDVERSION%" == "%DESIREDVERSION%" node .\node_modules\gulp\bin\gulp.js electron
+:: Download Electron if needed
+node build\lib\electron.js
+if %errorlevel% neq 0 node .\node_modules\gulp\bin\gulp.js electron
 
 :: Build
 if not exist out node .\node_modules\gulp\bin\gulp.js compile
diff --git a/scripts/code-cli.sh b/scripts/code-cli.sh
index 1995f490c41..89e518322fc 100755
--- a/scripts/code-cli.sh
+++ b/scripts/code-cli.sh
@@ -18,14 +18,11 @@ function code() {
 		CODE=".build/electron/$NAME"
 	fi
 
-	INTENDED_VERSION="v`node -p "require('./package.json').electronVersion"`"
-	INSTALLED_VERSION=`cat .build/electron/version 2> /dev/null`
-
 	# Node modules
 	test -d node_modules || yarn
 
 	# Get electron
-	(test -f "$CODE" && [ $INTENDED_VERSION == $INSTALLED_VERSION ]) || ./node_modules/.bin/gulp electron
+	node build/lib/electron.js || ./node_modules/.bin/gulp electron
 
 	# Build
 	test -d out || ./node_modules/.bin/gulp compile
diff --git a/scripts/code.bat b/scripts/code.bat
index ca75c60acf5..3b403b1c64c 100644
--- a/scripts/code.bat
+++ b/scripts/code.bat
@@ -13,14 +13,9 @@ set NAMESHORT=%NAMESHORT: "=%
 set NAMESHORT=%NAMESHORT:"=%.exe
 set CODE=".build\electron\%NAMESHORT%"
 
-for /f "tokens=2 delims=:," %%a in ('findstr /R /C:"\"electronVersion\":.*" package.json') do set DESIREDVERSION=%%~a
-set DESIREDVERSION=%DESIREDVERSION: "=%
-set DESIREDVERSION=v%DESIREDVERSION:"=%
-if exist .\.build\electron\version (set /p INSTALLEDVERSION=<.\.build\electron\version) else (set INSTALLEDVERSION="")
-
-:: Get electron
-if not exist %CODE% node .\node_modules\gulp\bin\gulp.js electron
-if not "%INSTALLEDVERSION%" == "%DESIREDVERSION%" node .\node_modules\gulp\bin\gulp.js electron
+:: Download Electron if needed
+node build\lib\electron.js
+if %errorlevel% neq 0 node .\node_modules\gulp\bin\gulp.js electron
 
 :: Build
 if not exist out node .\node_modules\gulp\bin\gulp.js compile
diff --git a/scripts/code.sh b/scripts/code.sh
index 70395aadfb6..6339ad06bd4 100755
--- a/scripts/code.sh
+++ b/scripts/code.sh
@@ -18,14 +18,11 @@ function code() {
 		CODE=".build/electron/$NAME"
 	fi
 
-	INTENDED_VERSION="v`node -p "require('./package.json').electronVersion"`"
-	INSTALLED_VERSION=`cat .build/electron/version 2> /dev/null`
-
 	# Node modules
 	test -d node_modules || yarn
 
 	# Get electron
-	(test -f "$CODE" && [ $INTENDED_VERSION == $INSTALLED_VERSION ]) || ./node_modules/.bin/gulp electron
+	node build/lib/electron.js || ./node_modules/.bin/gulp electron
 
 	# Build
 	test -d out || ./node_modules/.bin/gulp compile
diff --git a/scripts/env.ps1 b/scripts/env.ps1
index afd26f17baa..4f2d411c5c6 100644
--- a/scripts/env.ps1
+++ b/scripts/env.ps1
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 $env:npm_config_disturl="https://atom.io/download/electron"
-$env:npm_config_target=(node -p "require('./package.json').electronVersion")
+$env:npm_config_target=(node "build/lib/electron.js")
 $env:npm_config_runtime="electron"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/env.sh b/scripts/env.sh
index 35d09f66bb2..aa4acdf94e6 100755
--- a/scripts/env.sh
+++ b/scripts/env.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 export npm_config_disturl=https://atom.io/download/electron
-export npm_config_target=$(node -p "require('./package.json').electronVersion")
+export npm_config_target=$(node "build/lib/electron.js")
 export npm_config_runtime=electron
 export npm_config_cache="$HOME/.npm-electron"
 mkdir -p "$npm_config_cache"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/node-electron.sh b/scripts/node-electron.sh
index a1c2cf469b0..febdb7cb896 100755
--- a/scripts/node-electron.sh
+++ b/scripts/node-electron.sh
@@ -17,12 +17,8 @@ else
 	CODE=".build/electron/$NAME"
 fi
 
-INTENDED_VERSION="v`node -p "require('./package.json').electronVersion"`"
-INSTALLED_VERSION=$(cat .build/electron/version 2> /dev/null)
-
-
 # Get electron
-(test -f "$CODE" && [ $INTENDED_VERSION == $INSTALLED_VERSION ]) || ./node_modules/.bin/gulp electron
+node build/lib/electron.js || ./node_modules/.bin/gulp electron
 
 export VSCODE_DEV=1
 if [[ "$OSTYPE" == "darwin"* ]]; then
diff --git a/scripts/test.bat b/scripts/test.bat
index 48ee90d108f..7f5f5f8df8e 100644
--- a/scripts/test.bat
+++ b/scripts/test.bat
@@ -12,13 +12,8 @@ set NAMESHORT=%NAMESHORT:"=%.exe
 set CODE=".build\electron\%NAMESHORT%"
 
 :: Download Electron if needed
-for /f "tokens=2 delims=:," %%a in ('findstr /R /C:"\"electronVersion\":.*" package.json') do set DESIREDVERSION=%%~a
-set DESIREDVERSION=%DESIREDVERSION: "=%
-set DESIREDVERSION=v%DESIREDVERSION:"=%
-if exist .\.build\electron\version (set /p INSTALLEDVERSION=<.\.build\electron\version) else (set INSTALLEDVERSION="")
-
-if not exist %CODE% node .\node_modules\gulp\bin\gulp.js electron
-if not "%INSTALLEDVERSION%" == "%DESIREDVERSION%" node .\node_modules\gulp\bin\gulp.js electron
+node build\lib\electron.js
+if %errorlevel% neq 0 node .\node_modules\gulp\bin\gulp.js electron
 
 :: Run tests
 %CODE% .\test\electron\index.js %*
diff --git a/scripts/test.sh b/scripts/test.sh
index 43c515c205f..d88a28c5e2d 100755
--- a/scripts/test.sh
+++ b/scripts/test.sh
@@ -18,14 +18,11 @@ else
 	CODE=".build/electron/$NAME"
 fi
 
-INTENDED_VERSION="v`node -p "require('./package.json').electronVersion"`"
-INSTALLED_VERSION=$(cat .build/electron/version 2> /dev/null)
-
 # Node modules
 test -d node_modules || yarn
 
 # Get electron
-(test -f "$CODE" && [ $INTENDED_VERSION == $INSTALLED_VERSION ]) || ./node_modules/.bin/gulp electron
+node build/lib/electron.js || ./node_modules/.bin/gulp electron
 
 # Unit Tests
 export ELECTRON_ENABLE_LOGGING=1