diff --git a/.buildkite/pipeline.yml b/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
index 772694136..e595cfc0d 100644
--- a/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
+++ b/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ steps:
 
   - if: build.tag =~ /^validator/
     name: ":debian: build validator deb"
+    env:
+      VERSION_TAG: $BUILDKITE_TAG
     commands:
       - "git fetch -t"
       - ".buildkite/scripts/make_deb.sh"
@@ -22,6 +24,8 @@ steps:
 
   - if: build.tag =~ /^validator/
     name: ":cloud: upload validator deb to packagecloud"
+    env:
+      VERSION_TAG: $BUILDKITE_TAG
     commands:
       - "git fetch -t"
       - ".buildkite/scripts/packagecloud_upload.sh"
@@ -32,10 +36,11 @@ steps:
   - if: build.tag =~ /^validator/
     name: "validator AMD64 docker"
     env:
+      BUILD_TYPE: "validator"
+      IMAGE_ARCH: "amd64"
       REGISTRY_HOST: "quay.io"
       REGISTRY_NAME: "validator"
-      IMAGE_ARCH: "amd64"
-      BUILD_TYPE: "validator"
+      VERSION_TAG: $BUILDKITE_TAG
     agents:
       queue: "erlang"
     commands:
@@ -45,10 +50,11 @@ steps:
   - if: build.tag =~ /^validator/
     name: "validator ARM64 docker"
     env:
+      BUILD_TYPE: "validator"
+      IMAGE_ARCH: "arm64"
       REGISTRY_HOST: "quay.io"
       REGISTRY_NAME: "validator"
-      IMAGE_ARCH: "arm64"
-      BUILD_TYPE: "validator"
+      VERSION_TAG: $BUILDKITE_TAG
     agents:
       queue: "arm64"
     commands:
diff --git a/.buildkite/scripts/make_deb.sh b/.buildkite/scripts/make_deb.sh
index ae3488da8..5e07902c7 100755
--- a/.buildkite/scripts/make_deb.sh
+++ b/.buildkite/scripts/make_deb.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 set -euo pipefail
 
-VERSION=$(git describe --abbrev=0 | sed -e 's,validator,,')
+VERSION=$(echo $VERSION_TAG | sed -e 's,validator,,')
 ./rebar3 as validator release -n miner -v ${VERSION}
 
 fpm -n validator \
diff --git a/.buildkite/scripts/make_image.sh b/.buildkite/scripts/make_image.sh
index 63914578b..6e74feb23 100755
--- a/.buildkite/scripts/make_image.sh
+++ b/.buildkite/scripts/make_image.sh
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ if [[ "$IMAGE_ARCH" == "arm64" ]]; then
     BASE_IMAGE="arm64v8/$BASE_IMAGE"
 fi
 
-VERSION=$(git describe --abbrev=0 | sed -e "s/$BUILD_TYPE//")
+VERSION=$(echo $VERSION_TAG | sed -e "s/$BUILD_TYPE//")
 DOCKER_BUILD_ARGS="--build-arg VERSION=$VERSION"
 
 if [[ ! $TEST_BUILD -eq "0" ]]; then
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ if [[ ! $TEST_BUILD ]]; then
 fi
 
 # update latest tag if github tag ends in `_GA` and don't do the rest of a build
-if [[ "$BUILDKITE_TAG" =~ _GA$ ]]; then
+if [[ "$VERSION_TAG" =~ _GA$ ]]; then
 
     echo "GA release detected: Updating latest tag on ${REGISTRY_HOST} for ${BUILD_TYPE}"
 
diff --git a/.buildkite/scripts/packagecloud_upload.sh b/.buildkite/scripts/packagecloud_upload.sh
index 19b8bb7ac..9ccc82c46 100755
--- a/.buildkite/scripts/packagecloud_upload.sh
+++ b/.buildkite/scripts/packagecloud_upload.sh
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 set -euo pipefail
 
-TAG=$( git describe --abbrev=0 --tags | sed -e s/validator// )
+TAG=$(echo $VERSION_TAG | sed -e s/validator// )
 
 PKGNAME="validator_${TAG}_amd64.deb"