diff --git a/docs/project-setup.md b/docs/project-setup.md
index c18bbdc..5bd49aa 100644
--- a/docs/project-setup.md
+++ b/docs/project-setup.md
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ The lock file is automatically generated and should be committed to version cont
 ```json
 {
   "lockVersion": 1,
-  "hemlock": "1.0.0",
+  "hemlock": "2.7.0",
   "dependencies": {
     "hemlang/sprout": {
       "version": "2.1.0",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 3fb646a..d087bcc 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "hemlang/hpm",
-  "version": "1.2.0",
+  "version": "1.2.1",
   "description": "Hemlock Package Manager - A package manager for the Hemlock programming language",
   "author": "Hemlock Team",
   "license": "MIT",
diff --git a/src/github.hml b/src/github.hml
index e0e382f..891caa3 100644
--- a/src/github.hml
+++ b/src/github.hml
@@ -54,6 +54,16 @@ export fn get_token() {
     return null;
 }
 
+// Perform a GET, converting thrown network errors (connection failure,
+// timeout) into a retryable status-0 response so retry loops can handle them
+fn try_get(url: string, headers) {
+    try {
+        return get(url, headers);
+    } catch (e) {
+        return { status_code: 0, headers: [], body: "" };
+    }
+}
+
 // Make an authenticated GitHub API request with retry logic
 fn github_request(url: string) {
     let headers = [];
@@ -70,7 +80,7 @@ fn github_request(url: string) {
     let backoff_s = INITIAL_BACKOFF_S;
 
     while (retries <= MAX_RETRIES) {
-        let response = get(url, headers);
+        let response = try_get(url, headers);
 
         if (response.status_code == 403) {
             // Rate limit - retry with exponential backoff
@@ -95,6 +105,9 @@ fn github_request(url: string) {
                 backoff_s = backoff_s * 2;
                 continue;
             }
+            if (response.status_code == 0) {
+                throw "GitHub API request failed (network error) after " + MAX_RETRIES + " retries";
+            }
             throw "GitHub API error: HTTP " + response.status_code + " after " + MAX_RETRIES + " retries";
         }
 
@@ -292,9 +305,9 @@ export fn repo_exists(owner: string, repo: string): bool {
     let backoff_s = INITIAL_BACKOFF_S;
 
     while (retries <= MAX_RETRIES) {
-        let response = get(url, headers);
+        let response = try_get(url, headers);
 
-        // Retry on rate limit or server errors
+        // Retry on rate limit, server errors, or network failures
         if (response.status_code == 403 || response.status_code >= 500 || response.status_code == 0) {
             if (retries < MAX_RETRIES) {
                 retries = retries + 1;
diff --git a/src/lockfile.hml b/src/lockfile.hml
index c02ca9e..3c32e47 100644
--- a/src/lockfile.hml
+++ b/src/lockfile.hml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ let LOCK_VERSION = 1;
 export fn create_empty() {
     return {
         lockVersion: LOCK_VERSION,
-        hemlock: "1.1.0",
+        hemlock: "2.7.0",
         dependencies: {}
     };
 }
diff --git a/src/main.hml b/src/main.hml
index 6760d20..87f3ce3 100644
--- a/src/main.hml
+++ b/src/main.hml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ import * as installer from "./installer.hml";
 import * as cache from "./cache.hml";
 
 // Version info
-let HPM_VERSION = "1.2.0";
+let HPM_VERSION = "1.2.1";
 github.init(HPM_VERSION);
 
 // Exit codes
diff --git a/test/test_lockfile.hml b/test/test_lockfile.hml
index 4596cac..25cf635 100644
--- a/test/test_lockfile.hml
+++ b/test/test_lockfile.hml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ export fn run() {
     test("creates empty lockfile", fn() {
         let lock = lockfile.create_empty();
         assert_eq(lock.lockVersion, 1, "lockVersion");
-        assert_eq(lock.hemlock, "1.1.0", "hemlock");
+        assert_eq(lock.hemlock, "2.7.0", "hemlock");
         assert_not_null(lock.dependencies, "dependencies");
     });