diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index eb3df4b6bd..4d218327bd 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -4,4 +4,3 @@
 APPVEYOR_CLOUD_TOKEN=
 CIRCLE_TOKEN=
 ELECTRON_GITHUB_TOKEN=
-VSTS_TOKEN=
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/script/release/ci-release-build.js b/script/release/ci-release-build.js
index 2756e3899f..56e4fdeba9 100644
--- a/script/release/ci-release-build.js
+++ b/script/release/ci-release-build.js
@@ -270,6 +270,7 @@ async function buildVSTS (targetBranch, options) {
 
   let vstsURL = VSTS_URL;
   let vstsToken = process.env.VSTS_TOKEN;
+  assert(vstsToken, `${options.ci} requires the $VSTS_TOKEN environment variable to be provided`);
   if (options.ci === 'DevOps') {
     vstsURL = DEVOPS_URL;
     vstsToken = process.env.DEVOPS_TOKEN;