diff --git a/desktop/.npmrc b/desktop/.npmrc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c42da845b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/desktop/.npmrc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+engine-strict = true
diff --git a/desktop/package.json b/desktop/package.json
index 1e701852f..aec21214c 100644
--- a/desktop/package.json
+++ b/desktop/package.json
@@ -163,6 +163,11 @@
     "tsc-plugins": "./ts-node scripts/tsc-plugins.tsx",
     "watch": "cross-env TZ=Pacific/Pohnpei node --expose-gc --stack-trace-limit=40 ./node_modules/.bin/jest --watch"
   },
+  "engines": {
+    "node": ">=16",
+    "npm": "use yarn instead",
+    "yarn": "^1.16"
+  },
   "version": "0.149.0",
   "workspaces": {
     "packages": [