diff --git a/build.zig.zon b/build.zig.zon
index 7b80c84..10f9775 100644
--- a/build.zig.zon
+++ b/build.zig.zon
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 
     // This is a [Semantic Version](https://semver.org/).
     // In a future version of Zig it will be used for package deduplication.
-    .version = "0.8.0",
+    .version = "0.8.1",
 
     // Together with name, this represents a globally unique package
     // identifier. This field is generated by the Zig toolchain when the
diff --git a/src/linux/user.zig b/src/linux/user.zig
index d6bb3eb..5cd8a84 100644
--- a/src/linux/user.zig
+++ b/src/linux/user.zig
@@ -6,7 +6,9 @@ pub fn getUsername(allocator: std.mem.Allocator) ![]u8 {
 }
 
 pub fn getShell(allocator: std.mem.Allocator) ![]u8 {
-    const shell = try std.process.getEnvVarOwned(allocator, "SHELL");
+    const shell = std.process.getEnvVarOwned(allocator, "SHELL") catch |err| if (err == error.EnvironmentVariableNotFound) {
+        return allocator.dupe(u8, "Unknown");
+    } else return err;
 
     var child = std.process.Child.init(&[_][]const u8{ shell, "--version" }, allocator);
     defer allocator.free(shell);
diff --git a/src/macos/user.zig b/src/macos/user.zig
index 52da9fb..77c65a9 100644
--- a/src/macos/user.zig
+++ b/src/macos/user.zig
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@ pub fn getUsername(allocator: std.mem.Allocator) ![]u8 {
 }
 
 pub fn getShell(allocator: std.mem.Allocator) ![]u8 {
-    const shell = try std.process.getEnvVarOwned(allocator, "SHELL");
+    const shell = std.process.getEnvVarOwned(allocator, "SHELL") catch |err| if (err == error.EnvironmentVariableNotFound) {
+        return allocator.dupe(u8, "Unknown");
+    } else return err;
 
     var child = std.process.Child.init(&[_][]const u8{ shell, "--version" }, allocator);
     defer allocator.free(shell);