@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ class Publish extends BaseCommand {
 
     const resolved = npa.resolve(manifest.name, manifest.version)
 
-    const latestDistTag = await this.#latestDistTag(resolved)
+    const latestDistTag = await this.#latestPublishedVersion(resolved)
     const latestTagIsGreater = latestDistTag ? semver.gte(latestDistTag, manifest.version) : false
 
     if (latestTagIsGreater && isDefaultTag) {
@@ -204,6 +204,26 @@ class Publish extends BaseCommand {
     }
   }
 
+  async #latestPublishedVersion (spec) {
+    try {
+      const uri = '/' + spec.escapedName
+      const packument = await npmFetch.json(uri, {
+        ...this.npm.flatOptions,
+        spec,
+      })
+      if (typeof packument?.versions === 'undefined') {
+        return null
+      }
+      const ordered = Object.keys(packument?.versions)
+        .map(v => new semver.SemVer(v))
+        .filter(v => !v.prerelease.length)
+        .sort((a, b) => b.compare(a))
+      return ordered.length >= 1 ? ordered[0].version : null
+    } catch (e) {
+      return null
+    }
+  }
+
   async #latestDistTag (spec) {
     try {
       const tags = await DistTag.fetchTags(spec, this.npm.flatOptions)
 
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ function loadMockNpm (test, args) {
     ...args,
     mocks: {
       ...mockNpmRegistryFetch({
-        [`/-/package/${pkg}/dist-tags`]: () => {
+        [`/${pkg}`]: () => {
           throw new Error('not found')
         },
       }).mocks,
@@ -1088,7 +1088,6 @@ t.test('does not abort when prerelease and authored tag latest', async t => {
 })
 
 t.test('PREVENTS publish when latest dist-tag is HIGHER than publishing version', async t => {
-  const latest = '100.0.0'
   const version = '50.0.0'
 
   const { npm } = await loadMockNpm(t, {
@@ -1111,7 +1110,7 @@ t.test('PREVENTS publish when latest dist-tag is HIGHER than publishing version'
     },
     mocks: {
       ...mockNpmRegistryFetch({
-        [`/-/package/${pkg}/dist-tags`]: { latest },
+        [`/${pkg}`]: { versions: { '50.0.0': {}, '99.0.0': {}, '100.0.0': {}, '101.0.0-pre': {} } },
       }).mocks,
     },
   })
@@ -1120,9 +1119,8 @@ t.test('PREVENTS publish when latest dist-tag is HIGHER than publishing version'
   }, new Error('Cannot publish a lower version without an explicit dist tag.'))
 })
 
-t.test('ALLOWS publish when latest dist-tag is LOWER than publishing version', async t => {
+t.test('ALLOWS publish when latest versions are LOWER than publishing version', async t => {
   const version = '100.0.0'
-  const latest = '50.0.0'
 
   const { npm } = await loadMockNpm(t, {
     config: {
@@ -1138,7 +1136,7 @@ t.test('ALLOWS publish when latest dist-tag is LOWER than publishing version', a
     },
     mocks: {
       ...mockNpmRegistryFetch({
-        [`/-/package/${pkg}/dist-tags`]: { latest },
+        [`/${pkg}`]: { versions: { '50.0.0': {}, '99.0.0': {}, '101.0.0-pre': {} } },
       }).mocks,
     },
   })
@@ -1155,7 +1153,7 @@ t.test('ALLOWS publish when latest dist-tag is LOWER than publishing version', a
   await npm.exec('publish', [])
 })
 
-t.test('ALLOWS publish when latest dist-tag is missing from response', async t => {
+t.test('ALLOWS publish when not published yet', async t => {
   const version = '100.0.0'
 
   const { npm } = await loadMockNpm(t, {
@@ -1172,7 +1170,7 @@ t.test('ALLOWS publish when latest dist-tag is missing from response', async t =
     },
     mocks: {
       ...mockNpmRegistryFetch({
-        [`/-/package/${pkg}/dist-tags`]: { },
+        [`/${pkg}`]: { },
       }).mocks,
     },
   })