diff --git a/lib/node_modules/@stdlib/_tools/scripts/publish_packages.js b/lib/node_modules/@stdlib/_tools/scripts/publish_packages.js
index 1019e1bb7ad..6d2fecbaf54 100644
--- a/lib/node_modules/@stdlib/_tools/scripts/publish_packages.js
+++ b/lib/node_modules/@stdlib/_tools/scripts/publish_packages.js
@@ -1094,13 +1094,6 @@ function publish( pkg, clbk ) {
 		console.log( 'Publishing '+dist+' to npm...' );
 		pkgJSON = populateDeps( pkgJSON, deps, devDeps, mainJSON, false );
 
-		// Change `@stdlib/string-format` to `@stdlib/error-tools-fmtprodmsg` in package.json:
-		if ( pkgJSON.dependencies[ '@stdlib/string-format' ] ) {
-			delete pkgJSON.dependencies[ '@stdlib/string-format' ];
-		}
-		fmtProdMsgVersion = npmVersion( '@stdlib/error-tools-fmtprodmsg' );
-		pkgJSON.dependencies[ '@stdlib/error-tools-fmtprodmsg' ] = fmtProdMsgVersion;
-
 		opts = {
 			'cwd': dist
 		};
@@ -1108,6 +1101,7 @@ function publish( pkg, clbk ) {
 		// Transform error messages via jscodeshift:
 		jscodeshift = join( rootDir(), 'node_modules', '.bin', 'jscodeshift' );
 		command = jscodeshift+' ./lib/**/*.js ./lib/*.js -t '+join( __dirname, 'transform_error_messages.js' )+' '+distPkg;
+		shell( command, opts );
 
 		// Format rewritten error messages:
 		command = 'find . -name "*.js" -exec sed -E -i "s/Error\\( format\\( \\"([a-zA-Z0-9]+)\\"/Error\\( format\\( \'\\1\'/g" {} \\;';
@@ -1186,6 +1180,13 @@ function publish( pkg, clbk ) {
 			}
 		}
 
+		// Change `@stdlib/string-format` to `@stdlib/error-tools-fmtprodmsg` in package.json:
+		if ( pkgJSON.dependencies[ '@stdlib/string-format' ] ) {
+			delete pkgJSON.dependencies[ '@stdlib/string-format' ];
+		}
+		fmtProdMsgVersion = npmVersion( '@stdlib/error-tools-fmtprodmsg' );
+		pkgJSON.dependencies[ '@stdlib/error-tools-fmtprodmsg' ] = fmtProdMsgVersion;
+
 		// Replace LICENSE comments with abbreviated ones:
 		if ( hasCLI ) {
 			command = 'find '+dist+' -name "*.js" -type f';