diff --git a/bellows/ezsp/__init__.py b/bellows/ezsp/__init__.py
index b872331c..c3649462 100644
--- a/bellows/ezsp/__init__.py
+++ b/bellows/ezsp/__init__.py
@@ -362,11 +362,11 @@ async def get_board_info(
             patch, ver_info_bytes = t.uint8_t.deserialize(ver_info_bytes)
             special, ver_info_bytes = t.uint8_t.deserialize(ver_info_bytes)
             version = f"{major}.{minor}.{patch}.{special} build {build}"
+            build_string = None
 
-            try:
-                build_string = await self.xncp_get_build_string()
-            except InvalidCommandError:
-                build_string = None
+            if FirmwareFeatures.BUILD_STRING in self._xncp_features:
+                with contextlib.suppress(InvalidCommandError):
+                    build_string = await self.xncp_get_build_string()
 
             if build_string:
                 version = f"{version} ({build_string})"
diff --git a/tests/test_ezsp.py b/tests/test_ezsp.py
index fa07f3df..e95abe63 100644
--- a/tests/test_ezsp.py
+++ b/tests/test_ezsp.py
@@ -388,6 +388,9 @@ async def replacement(command_name, tokenId=None, valueId=None):
 
         return replacement
 
+    if not isinstance(xncp_build_string, InvalidCommandError):
+        ezsp_f._xncp_features |= xncp.FirmwareFeatures.BUILD_STRING
+
     with patch.object(
         ezsp_f,
         "_command",