'if' must have both main and 'else' branches if used as an expression

I have the code below working before, now compiler halts and marks both if statements and says:

'if' must have both main and 'else' branches if used as an expression

But as you see this is not an expression, but just a simple equality statement and a conditional statement next to it.

try {
    val json_string = responseBody!!.string()
    val jsonObject = JSONObject(json_string)
    if (jsonObject.has("version")) {

        val remoteVersion = jsonObject.getInt("version")
        if (remoteVersion > BuildConfig.VERSION_CODE) {
            handler.post {
                showInstallNewVersionDialog()
            }
        }
    }
} catch (e: Exception) {
    e.message?.let { Log.e(Constants.TAG, e.message!!) }

}

The funny part is if I added empty else tags, it will run but will warn to remove empty else statements:

if (jsonObject.has("version")) {

    val remoteVersion = jsonObject.getInt("version")
    if (remoteVersion > BuildConfig.VERSION_CODE) {
        handler.post {
            showInstallNewVersionDialog()
        }
    } else {}
} else {}

If IDE tells you that 'if' must have both main and 'else' branches if used as an expression then it is so. Most likely this try-catch construction is defined as a custom getter of a variable or as single-expression function.

An example:

val aVariable =
    try {
        if (System.currentTimeMillis() == 0L) {
            println("It is 1970-01-01")
        }
    } catch (e: Exception) {
        // empty
    }

fun aFunction() =
    try {
        if (System.currentTimeMillis() == 0L) {
            println("It is 1970-01-01")
        }
    } catch (e: Exception) {
        // empty
    }

And the IDE (lint) shows me an error even before compiling. Same error for the function.

To fix this issue you either introduce else statement OR redeclare this variable as a function (or update the function you have). This function will work fine as it always returns Unit even if you do not have any code in it.

fun aFunction() {
    try {
        if (System.currentTimeMillis() == 0L) {
            println("It is 1970-01-01")
        }
    } catch (e: Exception) {
        // empty
    }
}

When you use single-expression functions or getters you MUST return a value. That is why else part is required.