diff --git a/src/node_api.cc b/src/node_api.cc
index e0e7cca2a4ba..40bdf143a98f 100644
--- a/src/node_api.cc
+++ b/src/node_api.cc
@@ -770,6 +770,8 @@ void napi_module_register_by_symbol(v8::Local<v8::Object> exports,
   // Create a new napi_env for this specific module.
   napi_env env =
       node_napi_env__::New(context, module_filename, module_api_version);
+  // `module_api_version` is not supported.
+  if (env == nullptr) return;
 
   napi_value _exports = nullptr;
   env->CallIntoModule([&](napi_env env) {
diff --git a/test/node-api/test_module_version_mismatch/binding.gyp b/test/node-api/test_module_version_mismatch/binding.gyp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..e87600d8fa48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/node-api/test_module_version_mismatch/binding.gyp
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+{
+  'targets': [
+    {
+      'target_name': 'test_module_version_mismatch',
+      'sources': [ 'test_module_version_mismatch.c' ],
+      # One below NAPI_VERSION_EXPERIMENTAL, so it is always above
+      # NODE_API_SUPPORTED_VERSION_MAX and never becomes a real version, but is
+      # not the experimental value the version check deliberately allows.
+      'defines': [ 'NAPI_VERSION=2147483646' ]
+    }
+  ]
+}
diff --git a/test/node-api/test_module_version_mismatch/test.js b/test/node-api/test_module_version_mismatch/test.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..84d8e9c78195
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/node-api/test_module_version_mismatch/test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+'use strict';
+const common = require('../../common');
+const assert = require('assert');
+
+// An add-on that requires a newer Node-API version than this binary supports
+// must be rejected with an error that `require()` can catch. The version check
+// in `node_napi_env__::New()` already produces that error, but its nullptr
+// return used to be dereferenced by `napi_module_register_by_symbol()`, so the
+// process segfaulted before the error could surface.
+assert.throws(
+  () => require(`./build/${common.buildType}/test_module_version_mismatch`),
+  /requires Node-API version 2147483646, but this version of Node\.js only supports version \d+ add-ons\./);
diff --git a/test/node-api/test_module_version_mismatch/test_module_version_mismatch.c b/test/node-api/test_module_version_mismatch/test_module_version_mismatch.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..63027b705b29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/node-api/test_module_version_mismatch/test_module_version_mismatch.c
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#include <node_api.h>
+
+// This add-on declares a Node-API version that no build supports, so loading it
+// must fail with an error -- not a crash.
+NAPI_MODULE_INIT() {
+  return exports;
+}