diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 8b9d3a71..8f3c3ae3 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 PREFIX ?= /usr/local
-VERSION ?= $(shell git describe --tags --dirty --always | cut -c 2-)
+VERSION ?= $(shell git describe --tags --dirty --always | sed -e 's/^v//')
 IS_SNAPSHOT = $(if $(findstring -, $(VERSION)),true,false)
 MAJOR_VERSION = $(word 1, $(subst ., ,$(VERSION)))
 MINOR_VERSION = $(word 2, $(subst ., ,$(VERSION)))