diff --git a/bowtie/_core.py b/bowtie/_core.py
index 83aeb2d85..e46957fe0 100644
--- a/bowtie/_core.py
+++ b/bowtie/_core.py
@@ -549,23 +549,22 @@ async def get_versions(self) -> Iterable[str]:
         url = CONTAINER_PACKAGES_API / self.id / "versions"
 
         gh = github()
-        pages: list[GitHubCore] = []
-        with suppress(GitHubError):
-            pages = gh._iter(count=-1, url=str(url), cls=GitHubCore)  # type: ignore[reportPrivateUsage]
 
         versions: Set[str] = (
             {self.info.version} if self.info.version else set()
         )
-        for page in pages:
-            try:
-                tags = cast(
-                    "Iterable[str]",
-                    page.as_dict()["metadata"]["container"]["tags"],
-                )
-            except KeyError:
-                continue
-            else:
-                versions.update([tag for tag in tags if "." in tag])
+
+        with suppress(GitHubError):
+            for page in gh._iter(count=-1, url=str(url), cls=GitHubCore):  # type: ignore[reportPrivateUsage]
+                try:
+                    tags = cast(
+                        "Iterable[str]",
+                        page.as_dict()["metadata"]["container"]["tags"],  # type: ignore[reportUnknownMemberType]
+                    )
+                except KeyError:
+                    continue
+                else:
+                    versions.update([tag for tag in tags if "." in tag])
 
         return sorted(versions, key=sortable_version_key, reverse=True)
 
diff --git a/bowtie/tests/test_info_versions.py b/bowtie/tests/test_info_versions.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..845bdccf9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bowtie/tests/test_info_versions.py
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+from unittest.mock import Mock, patch
+
+from github3.exceptions import GitHubError
+import pytest
+
+from bowtie._core import Implementation, ImplementationInfo
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_get_versions_suppresses_github_error():
+    """
+    Test that get_versions() catches GitHub API errors (like rate limits)
+    and returns the local fallback version instead of crashing.
+    """
+    info = ImplementationInfo.from_dict(
+        name="fake-runner",
+        language="python",
+        homepage="https://example.com",
+        issues="https://example.com/issues",
+        source="https://example.com/source",
+        dialects=["http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#"],
+        version="1.2.3",
+    )
+
+    impl = Implementation(
+        id="python-fake-runner",
+        info=info,
+        harness=Mock(),
+        reporter=Mock(),
+    )
+
+    with patch("bowtie._core.github") as mock_github_func:
+        mock_gh_client = Mock()
+        mock_github_func.return_value = mock_gh_client
+        mock_gh_client._iter.side_effect = GitHubError(resp=Mock())
+        versions = await impl.get_versions()
+
+    assert versions == ["1.2.3"]