diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e9140abad..ddba14f91 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ _None_
 ### Internal Changes
 
 - Updates `activesupport` to `6.1.7.1`, addressing [a security issue](https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-j6gc-792m-qgm2). This is a major version change, but as the dependency is internal-only, it shouldn't be a breaking change for clients. [#441]
+- Add the explicit dependency to `xcodeproj (~> 1.22)`, used in this case to replace the previous manual parsing of `.xcconfig` files. [#451]
 
 ## 6.3.0
 
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index e25104bc0..df251f5e0 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ PATH
       progress_bar (~> 1.3)
       rake (>= 12.3, < 14.0)
       rake-compiler (~> 1.0)
+      xcodeproj (~> 1.22)
 
 GEM
   remote: https://rubygems.org/
diff --git a/fastlane-plugin-wpmreleasetoolkit.gemspec b/fastlane-plugin-wpmreleasetoolkit.gemspec
index 3266d5cbd..3e67c9591 100644
--- a/fastlane-plugin-wpmreleasetoolkit.gemspec
+++ b/fastlane-plugin-wpmreleasetoolkit.gemspec
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
   spec.add_dependency 'progress_bar', '~> 1.3'
   spec.add_dependency 'rake', '>= 12.3', '< 14.0'
   spec.add_dependency 'rake-compiler', '~> 1.0'
+  spec.add_dependency 'xcodeproj', '~> 1.22'
 
   # `google-cloud-storage` is required by fastlane, but we pin it in case it's not in the future
   spec.add_dependency 'google-cloud-storage', '~> 1.31'
diff --git a/lib/fastlane/plugin/wpmreleasetoolkit/helper/ios/ios_version_helper.rb b/lib/fastlane/plugin/wpmreleasetoolkit/helper/ios/ios_version_helper.rb
index dd98e2962..8866e111b 100644
--- a/lib/fastlane/plugin/wpmreleasetoolkit/helper/ios/ios_version_helper.rb
+++ b/lib/fastlane/plugin/wpmreleasetoolkit/helper/ios/ios_version_helper.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+require 'xcodeproj'
+
 module Fastlane
   module Helper
     module Ios
@@ -23,6 +25,9 @@ module VersionHelper
         #
         def self.get_xcconfig_public_version(xcconfig_file:)
           version = read_long_version_from_config_file(xcconfig_file)
+
+          UI.user_error!(".xcconfig file doesn't have a version configured") if version.nil?
+
           vp = get_version_parts(version)
           return "#{vp[MAJOR_NUMBER]}.#{vp[MINOR_NUMBER]}" unless is_hotfix?(version)
 
@@ -306,19 +311,15 @@ def self.read_build_number_from_config_file(filePath)
         # Read the value of a given key from an `.xcconfig` file.
         #
         # @param [String] key The xcconfig key to get the value for
-        # @param [String] filePath The path to the `.xcconfig` file to read the value from
+        # @param [String] file_path The path to the `.xcconfig` file to read the value from
         #
         # @return [String] The value for the given key, or `nil` if the key was not found.
         #
-        def self.read_from_config_file(key, filePath)
-          File.open(filePath, 'r') do |f|
-            f.each_line do |line|
-              line = line.strip()
-              return line.split('=')[1] if line.start_with?("#{key}=")
-            end
-          end
+        def self.read_from_config_file(key, file_path)
+          UI.user_error!(".xcconfig file #{file_path} not found") unless File.exist?(file_path)
 
-          return nil
+          config = Xcodeproj::Config.new(file_path)
+          config.attributes[key]
         end
 
         # Ensure that the version provided is only composed of number parts and return the validated string
diff --git a/spec/ios_get_app_version_spec.rb b/spec/ios_get_app_version_spec.rb
index 2e4334d74..0355fd175 100644
--- a/spec/ios_get_app_version_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/ios_get_app_version_spec.rb
@@ -3,39 +3,85 @@
 describe Fastlane::Actions::IosGetAppVersionAction do
   describe 'getting the public app version from the provided .xcconfig file' do
     it 'parses the xcconfig file format correctly and gets the public version' do
+      xcconfig_mock_content = <<~CONTENT
+        // a comment
+        VERSION_SHORT = 6
+        VERSION_LONG = 6.30.0
+      CONTENT
+
+      expect_version(xcconfig_mock_content: xcconfig_mock_content, expected_version: '6.30')
+    end
+
+    it 'parses the xcconfig file format correctly and gets the public hotfix version' do
+      xcconfig_mock_content = <<~CONTENT
+        VERSION_SHORT = 6
+        // a comment
+        VERSION_LONG = 6.30.1
+      CONTENT
+
+      expect_version(xcconfig_mock_content: xcconfig_mock_content, expected_version: '6.30.1')
+    end
+
+    it 'parses the xcconfig with keys without spacing and gets the public version' do
       xcconfig_mock_content = <<~CONTENT
         // a comment
         VERSION_SHORT=6
         VERSION_LONG=6.30.0
       CONTENT
 
-      allow(File).to receive(:exist?).and_return(true)
-
       expect_version(xcconfig_mock_content: xcconfig_mock_content, expected_version: '6.30')
     end
 
-    it 'parses the xcconfig file format correctly and gets the public hotfix version' do
+    it 'parses the xcconfig with keys without spacing and gets the public hotfix version' do
       xcconfig_mock_content = <<~CONTENT
         VERSION_SHORT=6
         // a comment
         VERSION_LONG=6.30.1
       CONTENT
 
-      allow(File).to receive(:exist?).and_return(true)
-
       expect_version(xcconfig_mock_content: xcconfig_mock_content, expected_version: '6.30.1')
     end
 
-    def expect_version(xcconfig_mock_content:, expected_version:)
-      xcconfig_mock_file_path = File.join('mock', 'file', 'path')
+    it 'fails to extract the version from an xcconfig file with an invalid format' do
+      xcconfig_mock_content = <<~CONTENT
+        VERSION_SHORT = 6
+        VERSION_LONG 6.30.1
+      CONTENT
+
+      expect do
+        expect_version(xcconfig_mock_content: xcconfig_mock_content, expected_version: 'n/a')
+      end.to raise_error(FastlaneCore::Interface::FastlaneError)
+    end
+
+    it 'throws an error when the file is not found' do
+      file_path = 'file/not/found'
 
-      allow(File).to receive(:open).with(xcconfig_mock_file_path, 'r').and_yield(StringIO.new(xcconfig_mock_content))
+      expect do
+        run_described_fastlane_action(
+          public_version_xcconfig_file: file_path
+        )
+      end.to raise_error(FastlaneCore::Interface::FastlaneError)
+    end
+
+    it "throws an error when there isn't a version configured in the .xcconfig file" do
+      xcconfig_mock_content = <<~CONTENT
+        VERSION_SHORT = 6
+        // a comment
+      CONTENT
+
+      expect do
+        expect_version(xcconfig_mock_content: xcconfig_mock_content, expected_version: 'n/a')
+      end.to raise_error(FastlaneCore::Interface::FastlaneError)
+    end
 
-      version_result = run_described_fastlane_action(
-        public_version_xcconfig_file: xcconfig_mock_file_path
-      )
+    def expect_version(xcconfig_mock_content:, expected_version:)
+      with_tmp_file(named: 'mock_xcconfig.xcconfig', content: xcconfig_mock_content) do |tmp_file_path|
+        version_result = run_described_fastlane_action(
+          public_version_xcconfig_file: tmp_file_path
+        )
 
-      expect(version_result).to eq(expected_version)
+        expect(version_result).to eq(expected_version)
+      end
     end
   end
 end