diff --git a/src/extensions/__tests__/is-compatible-extension.test.ts b/src/extensions/__tests__/is-compatible-extension.test.ts
index b422d029ea..d63fc6b919 100644
--- a/src/extensions/__tests__/is-compatible-extension.test.ts
+++ b/src/extensions/__tests__/is-compatible-extension.test.ts
@@ -102,6 +102,12 @@ describe("Extension/App versions compatibility check", () => {
       })(getExtensionManifestMock({
         lensEngine: ">=2.0",
       }))).toThrow(/Invalid format/i);
+
+      expect(() => isCompatibleExtension({
+        appSemVer: semverCoerce("1.0.0"),
+      })(getExtensionManifestMock({
+        lensEngine: ">=2.0 <3.0",
+      }))).toThrow(/Invalid format/i);
     });
 
     it("'*' cannot be used for any version matching (at least in the prefix)", () => {
diff --git a/src/extensions/extension-discovery/is-compatible-extension/is-compatible-extension.ts b/src/extensions/extension-discovery/is-compatible-extension/is-compatible-extension.ts
index 6418ac4c7f..44b0f1782d 100644
--- a/src/extensions/extension-discovery/is-compatible-extension/is-compatible-extension.ts
+++ b/src/extensions/extension-discovery/is-compatible-extension/is-compatible-extension.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
  * Copyright (c) OpenLens Authors. All rights reserved.
  * Licensed under MIT License. See LICENSE in root directory for more information.
  */
-import assert from "assert";
 import semver, { type SemVer } from "semver";
 import type { LensExtensionManifest } from "../../lens-extension";
 
@@ -14,12 +13,9 @@ export const isCompatibleExtension = ({ appSemVer }: Dependencies): ((manifest:
   return (manifest: LensExtensionManifest): boolean => {
     const appVersion = appSemVer.raw.split("-")[0]; // drop prerelease version if any, e.g. "-alpha.0"
     const manifestLensEngine = manifest.engines.lens;
-    const lensEngine = semver.coerce(manifestLensEngine, {
-      loose: true,
-      includePrerelease: false,
-    });
+    const validVersion = manifestLensEngine.match(/^[\^0-9]\d*\.\d+\b/); // must start from ^ or number
 
-    if (!lensEngine) {
+    if (!validVersion) {
       const errorInfo = [
         `Invalid format for "manifest.engines.lens"="${manifestLensEngine}"`,
         `Range versions can only be specified starting with '^'.`,
@@ -29,11 +25,11 @@ export const isCompatibleExtension = ({ appSemVer }: Dependencies): ((manifest:
       throw new Error(errorInfo);
     }
 
-    const { major: extMajor, minor: extMinor } = lensEngine;
-    const supportedRange = `^${extMajor}.${extMinor}`;
-    const supportedVersionsByExtension = semver.validRange(supportedRange);
-
-    assert(supportedVersionsByExtension, `${supportedRange} should always be a valid semver range`);
+    const { major: extMajor, minor: extMinor } = semver.coerce(manifestLensEngine, {
+      loose: true,
+      includePrerelease: false,
+    }) as semver.SemVer;
+    const supportedVersionsByExtension = semver.validRange(`^${extMajor}.${extMinor}`) as string;
 
     return semver.satisfies(appVersion, supportedVersionsByExtension, {
       loose: true,