diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 7132d3beb9..27a870aa6b 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ SITE_BASEURL ?=
 SITE_DESTDIR ?= _site
 JEKYLL_OPTS := -d '$(SITE_DESTDIR)' $(if $(SITE_BASEURL),-b '$(SITE_BASEURL)',)
 
-VERSION := $(shell git describe --tags --dirty --always)
+VERSION := $(shell git describe --tags --dirty --always --match "v*")
 
 IMAGE_REGISTRY ?= registry.k8s.io/nfd
 IMAGE_TAG_NAME ?= $(VERSION)
diff --git a/cmd/nfd-gc/main.go b/cmd/nfd-gc/main.go
index 6093ac7612..799185514f 100644
--- a/cmd/nfd-gc/main.go
+++ b/cmd/nfd-gc/main.go
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ func main() {
 
 	// Assert that the version is known
 	if version.Undefined() {
-		klog.InfoS("version not set! Set -ldflags \"-X sigs.k8s.io/node-feature-discovery/pkg/version.version=`git describe --tags --dirty --always`\" during build or run.")
+		klog.InfoS("version not set! Set -ldflags \"-X sigs.k8s.io/node-feature-discovery/pkg/version.version=`git describe --tags --dirty --always --match 'v*'`\" during build or run.")
 	}
 
 	// Get new garbage collector instance
diff --git a/cmd/nfd-master/main.go b/cmd/nfd-master/main.go
index bfc781a8fb..56c60ec64c 100644
--- a/cmd/nfd-master/main.go
+++ b/cmd/nfd-master/main.go
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ func main() {
 
 	// Assert that the version is known
 	if version.Undefined() {
-		klog.InfoS("version not set! Set -ldflags \"-X sigs.k8s.io/node-feature-discovery/pkg/version.version=`git describe --tags --dirty --always`\" during build or run.")
+		klog.InfoS("version not set! Set -ldflags \"-X sigs.k8s.io/node-feature-discovery/pkg/version.version=`git describe --tags --dirty --always --match 'v*'`\" during build or run.")
 	}
 
 	// Plug klog into grpc logging infrastructure
diff --git a/cmd/nfd-topology-updater/main.go b/cmd/nfd-topology-updater/main.go
index dc6bee50df..89fe8c57ec 100644
--- a/cmd/nfd-topology-updater/main.go
+++ b/cmd/nfd-topology-updater/main.go
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ func main() {
 
 	// Assert that the version is known
 	if version.Undefined() {
-		klog.InfoS("version not set! Set -ldflags \"-X sigs.k8s.io/node-feature-discovery/pkg/version.version=`git describe --tags --dirty --always`\" during build or run.")
+		klog.InfoS("version not set! Set -ldflags \"-X sigs.k8s.io/node-feature-discovery/pkg/version.version=`git describe --tags --dirty --always --match 'v*'`\" during build or run.")
 	}
 
 	// Plug klog into grpc logging infrastructure
diff --git a/cmd/nfd-worker/main.go b/cmd/nfd-worker/main.go
index 83ff124453..cdbdc478d7 100644
--- a/cmd/nfd-worker/main.go
+++ b/cmd/nfd-worker/main.go
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ func main() {
 
 	// Assert that the version is known
 	if version.Undefined() {
-		klog.InfoS("version not set! Set -ldflags \"-X sigs.k8s.io/node-feature-discovery/pkg/version.version=`git describe --tags --dirty --always`\" during build or run.")
+		klog.InfoS("version not set! Set -ldflags \"-X sigs.k8s.io/node-feature-discovery/pkg/version.version=`git describe --tags --dirty --always --match 'v*'`\" during build or run.")
 	}
 
 	// Check deprecated flags
diff --git a/scripts/github/update-gh-pages.sh b/scripts/github/update-gh-pages.sh
index 94d53a4522..f3e3ba553d 100755
--- a/scripts/github/update-gh-pages.sh
+++ b/scripts/github/update-gh-pages.sh
@@ -105,13 +105,13 @@ site_subdir=${site_subdir:-master}
 
 # Check if this ref is for a released version
 if [ "$site_subdir" != "master" ]; then
-    _base_tag=`git describe --abbrev=0 || :`
+    _base_tag=`git describe --abbrev=0 --match "v*" || :`
     case "$_base_tag" in
         $site_subdir*)
             ;;
         *)
             echo "Not a released version. Parsed release branch is $site_subdir but based on tag $_base_tag. Stopping here."
-            echo "SHA `git describe` (`git rev-parse HEAD`)"
+            echo "SHA `git describe` (`git rev-parse --match 'v*' HEAD`)"
             exit 0
             ;;
     esac
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ make site-build
 if [ -n "$_GIT_TAG" ]; then
     commit_hash=${GIT_TAG:10}
 else
-    commit_hash=`git describe --tags --dirty --always`
+    commit_hash=`git describe --tags --dirty --always --match "v*"`
 fi
 
 # Sync OWNERS file from master branch
diff --git a/scripts/test-infra/test-e2e-presubmit.sh b/scripts/test-infra/test-e2e-presubmit.sh
index 6905d148fe..dd10fa8d2a 100755
--- a/scripts/test-infra/test-e2e-presubmit.sh
+++ b/scripts/test-infra/test-e2e-presubmit.sh
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ set -o pipefail
 # Configure environment
 KIND_IMAGE="kindest/node:v1.25.3"
 export IMAGE_REGISTRY="localhost:5001"
-export CLUSTER_NAME=$(git describe --tags --dirty --always)
+export CLUSTER_NAME=$(git describe --tags --dirty --always --match "v*")
 export KUBECONFIG="/tmp/kubeconfig_$CLUSTER_NAME"
 
 # create registry container unless it already exists