diff --git a/.github/workflows/dev-release.yml b/.github/workflows/dev-release.yml
index fd7a16dcc..51f2eb636 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/dev-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/dev-release.yml
@@ -86,7 +86,8 @@ jobs:
         working-directory: spinifex
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
-          TAG="$(git describe --tags --always)-dev"
+          # Describing against a dev tag would nest it, growing the name every release.
+          TAG="$(git describe --tags --always --exclude '*-dev')-dev"
           case "$TAG" in
               v*) ;;
               *) echo "::error::git describe gave '$TAG', which is not a v-prefixed version"; exit 1 ;;
diff --git a/.github/workflows/e2e-baremetal.yml b/.github/workflows/e2e-baremetal.yml
index f4280bfbb..36925c480 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/e2e-baremetal.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/e2e-baremetal.yml
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ jobs:
             INSTALLER_BIN="${RUNNER_TEMP}/bm-bins/spinifex-installer" \
             SPINIFEX_SRC="${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}" \
             VIPERBLOCK_SRC="${RUNNER_TEMP}/bm-bins/viperblock" \
-            VERSION="$(cd "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE" && git describe --tags --always 2>/dev/null || echo dev)"
+            VERSION="$(cd "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE" && git describe --tags --always --exclude '*-dev' 2>/dev/null || echo dev)"
 
       - name: Write ePDU credentials
         run: |
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index a68316f56..957e66464 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ build-ui:
 	cd spinifex/services/spinifexui/frontend && pnpm build
 
 # GO commands
-VERSION ?= $(shell git describe --tags --always --dirty)
+VERSION ?= $(shell git describe --tags --always --dirty --exclude '*-dev')
 COMMIT  ?= $(shell git rev-parse --short HEAD)
 LDFLAGS := -s -w -X github.com/mulgadc/spinifex/cmd/spinifex/cmd.Version=$(VERSION) -X github.com/mulgadc/spinifex/cmd/spinifex/cmd.Commit=$(COMMIT)