diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 9724fdca0..4738de743 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -423,10 +423,17 @@ bootstrap.dependsOn installTestGems
 runIntegrationTests.shouldRunAfter tasks.getByPath(":logstash-core:test")
 check.dependsOn runIntegrationTests
 
+String artifactsVersionApi = "https://artifacts-api.elastic.co/v1/versions/"
+
 task downloadEs(type: Download) {
     description "Download ES Snapshot for current branch version: ${version}"
 
-    String artifactsVersionApi = "https://artifacts-api.elastic.co/v1/versions/"
+    doFirst {
+        if (!project.ext.versionFound) {
+            throw new GradleException("could not find the current artifact from the artifact-api ${artifactsVersionApi} for version: ${version}")
+        }
+    }
+
     String apiResponse = artifactsVersionApi.toURL().text
     def dlVersions = new JsonSlurper().parseText(apiResponse)
     // the version string can be either '7.0.0' or '7.0.0-alpha1', i.e. with the qualifier.
@@ -434,43 +441,53 @@ task downloadEs(type: Download) {
     // in the build invoked by the release manager it is '7.0.0-alpha1' etc.
     // the artifacts-api will return JSON like this: `{"versions":["5.6.13-SNAPSHOT","6.4.3-SNAPSHOT","6.5.0-SNAPSHOT","6.6.0-SNAPSHOT","7.0.0-alpha1-SNAPSHOT"]}`
     String qualifiedVersion = dlVersions['versions'].grep(~/^${version}.*/)[0]
-    if (qualifiedVersion == "null") {
-        throw new GradleException("could not find the current artifact from the artifact-api for version: ${version}, api response was: ${apiResponse}")
-    }
-
-    String arch = "x86_64"
-    String osName = System.properties['os.name']
-
-    if (osName ==~ /Mac OS X/) {
-        osName = "darwin"
+    if (qualifiedVersion == null) {
+        // the version is not found in the versions API, for now just set dummy values so the
+        // task parameters like src and dest below sees these dummy values but also set
+        // versionFound to false so that we can fail the task in the doFirst closure.
+        // this is somewhat convoluted and there is certainly a better way to do this but
+        // it seems to be an acceptable solution for now.
+        project.ext.set("versionFound", false)
+        project.ext.set("elasticsearchSnapshotURL", "http://elastic.co/invalid")
+        project.ext.set("elasticsearchDownloadLocation", "${projectDir}/build/invalid")
     } else {
-        osName = "linux"
+        project.ext.set("versionFound", true)
+
+        String arch = "x86_64"
+        String osName = System.properties['os.name']
+
+        if (osName ==~ /Mac OS X/) {
+            osName = "darwin"
+        } else {
+            osName = "linux"
+        }
+
+        String architecture = "${osName}-${arch}"
+
+        String downloadedElasticsearchName = "elasticsearch-${qualifiedVersion}-${architecture}"
+        project.ext.set("unpackedElasticsearchName", "elasticsearch-${qualifiedVersion}")
+
+        // find latest reference to last build
+        String buildsListApi = "https://artifacts-api.elastic.co/v1/versions/${qualifiedVersion}/builds/"
+        apiResponse = buildsListApi.toURL().text
+        def dlBuilds = new JsonSlurper().parseText(apiResponse)
+        String build = dlBuilds["builds"][0]
+
+        // find url of build artifact
+        String artifactApiUrl = "https://artifacts-api.elastic.co/v1/versions/${qualifiedVersion}/builds/${build}/projects/elasticsearch/packages/${downloadedElasticsearchName}.tar.gz"
+        apiResponse = artifactApiUrl.toURL().text
+        def buildUrls = new JsonSlurper().parseText(apiResponse)
+
+        project.ext.set("elasticsearchSnapshotURL", System.getenv("ELASTICSEARCH_SNAPSHOT_URL") ?: buildUrls["package"]["url"])
+        project.ext.set("elasticsearchDownloadLocation", "${projectDir}/build/${downloadedElasticsearchName}.tar.gz")
     }
 
-    String architecture = "${osName}-${arch}"
-
-    String downloadedElasticsearchName = "elasticsearch-${qualifiedVersion}-${architecture}"
-    project.ext.set("unpackedElasticsearchName", "elasticsearch-${qualifiedVersion}")
-
-    // find latest reference to last build
-    String buildsListApi = "https://artifacts-api.elastic.co/v1/versions/${qualifiedVersion}/builds/"
-    apiResponse = buildsListApi.toURL().text
-    def dlBuilds = new JsonSlurper().parseText(apiResponse)
-    String build = dlBuilds["builds"][0]
-
-    // find url of build artifact
-    String artifactApiUrl = "https://artifacts-api.elastic.co/v1/versions/${qualifiedVersion}/builds/${build}/projects/elasticsearch/packages/${downloadedElasticsearchName}.tar.gz"
-    apiResponse = artifactApiUrl.toURL().text
-    def buildUrls = new JsonSlurper().parseText(apiResponse)
-
-    String elasticsearchSnapshotURL = System.getenv("ELASTICSEARCH_SNAPSHOT_URL") ?: buildUrls["package"]["url"]
-    project.ext.set("elasticsearchDownloadLocation", "${projectDir}/build/${downloadedElasticsearchName}.tar.gz")
-
-    src elasticsearchSnapshotURL
+    src project.ext.elasticsearchSnapshotURL
     onlyIfNewer true
     inputs.file("${projectDir}/versions.yml")
     outputs.file(project.ext.elasticsearchDownloadLocation)
     dest new File(project.ext.elasticsearchDownloadLocation)
+
     doLast {
         System.out.println "Downloaded to ${project.ext.elasticsearchDownloadLocation}"
     }
@@ -483,8 +500,10 @@ task deleteLocalEs(type: Delete) {
 task copyEs(type: Copy, dependsOn: [downloadEs, deleteLocalEs]) {
     from tarTree(resources.gzip(project.ext.elasticsearchDownloadLocation))
     into "./build/"
+
     doLast {
         file("./build/${project.ext.unpackedElasticsearchName}").renameTo('./build/elasticsearch')
+        System.out.println "Unzipped ${project.ext.elasticsearchDownloadLocation} to ./build/elasticsearch"
     }
 }