diff --git a/sphinx_js/analyzer_utils.py b/sphinx_js/analyzer_utils.py
index b6c302cd..0143ccee 100644
--- a/sphinx_js/analyzer_utils.py
+++ b/sphinx_js/analyzer_utils.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ def search_node_modules(cmdname: str, cmdpath: str, dir: str | Path) -> str:
     # perhaps it's globally installed
     result = shutil.which(cmdname)
     if result:
-        return result
+        return str(Path(result).resolve())
 
     raise SphinxError(
         f'{cmdname} was not found. Install it using "npm install {cmdname}".'
diff --git a/sphinx_js/call_typedoc.mjs b/sphinx_js/call_typedoc.mjs
index 711a0ce7..cf9fdd0c 100644
--- a/sphinx_js/call_typedoc.mjs
+++ b/sphinx_js/call_typedoc.mjs
@@ -1,5 +1,15 @@
 import { writeFile } from "fs/promises";
 
+const ExitCodes = {
+  Ok: 0,
+  OptionError: 1,
+  CompileError: 3,
+  ValidationError: 4,
+  OutputError: 5,
+  ExceptionThrown: 6,
+  Watching: 7,
+};
+
 let td;
 
 // Locate the kind IDs, look up the corresponding kindStrings, and add them to
@@ -36,6 +46,10 @@ async function main() {
   // Most of this stuff is copied from typedoc/src/lib/cli.ts
   const start = Date.now();
   let app = await bootstrapAppTypedoc0_25();
+  if (app.options.getValue("version")) {
+    console.log(app.toString());
+    return ExitCodes.Ok;
+  }
 
   const project = await app.convert();
   const preValidationWarnCount = app.logger.warningCount;
diff --git a/sphinx_js/typedoc.py b/sphinx_js/typedoc.py
index 0f749fe0..1477cc94 100644
--- a/sphinx_js/typedoc.py
+++ b/sphinx_js/typedoc.py
@@ -30,7 +30,10 @@
 @cache
 def typedoc_version_info(typedoc: str) -> tuple[tuple[int, ...], tuple[int, ...]]:
     result = subprocess.run(
-        [typedoc, "--version"], capture_output=True, encoding="utf8"
+        [typedoc, "--version"],
+        capture_output=True,
+        encoding="utf8",
+        check=True,
     )
     lines = result.stdout.strip().splitlines()
     m = re.search(r"TypeDoc ([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+)", lines[0])
diff --git a/tests/test_paths.py b/tests/test_paths.py
index 32be4c45..40f6fcfc 100644
--- a/tests/test_paths.py
+++ b/tests/test_paths.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import os
+import subprocess
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import pytest
@@ -86,3 +88,19 @@ def test_err():
         match='my_program was not found. Install it using "npm install my_program"',
     ):
         search_node_modules("my_program", my_prog_path, "/a/b/c")
+
+
+def test_global_install(tmp_path_factory):
+    tmpdir = tmp_path_factory.mktemp("global_root")
+    tmpdir2 = tmp_path_factory.mktemp("blah")
+    os.environ["npm_config_prefix"] = str(tmpdir)
+    subprocess.run(["npm", "i", "-g", "typedoc"])
+    typedoc = search_node_modules("typedoc", "typedoc/bin/typedoc", str(tmpdir2))
+    os.environ["TYPEDOC_NODE_MODULES"] = str(Path(typedoc).parents[2])
+    res = subprocess.run(
+        ["node", Path(__file__).parents[1] / "sphinx_js/call_typedoc.mjs", "--version"],
+        check=True,
+        capture_output=True,
+        encoding="utf8",
+    )
+    assert "TypeDoc 0.25" in res.stdout