diff --git a/build.psm1 b/build.psm1
index af8cecb77d9..b27f2106ca6 100644
--- a/build.psm1
+++ b/build.psm1
@@ -1683,6 +1683,10 @@ function Start-PSBootstrap {
                 log "Install RCEdit for modifying exe resources"
                 $rceditUrl = "https://github.com/electron/rcedit/releases/download/v1.0.0/rcedit-x64.exe"
                 New-Item -Path "~/.rcedit" -Type Directory -Force > $null
+
+                ## need to specify TLS version 1.2 since GitHub API requires it
+                [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
+
                 Invoke-WebRequest -OutFile "~/.rcedit/rcedit-x64.exe" -Uri $rceditUrl
             }