diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 8689d04a..bbf604a7 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -10,10 +10,10 @@ if(NOT DEFINED VERSION)
     if("${VERSION}" STREQUAL "")
         message(FATAL_ERROR "VERSION is not set and failed to get from git")
     endif()
-
-    string(REGEX REPLACE "^v" "" VERSION "${VERSION}")
 endif()
 
+string(REGEX REPLACE "^v" "" VERSION "${VERSION}")
+
 project(caelestia-shell VERSION ${VERSION} LANGUAGES CXX)
 
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 20)