diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
index 88b4fe65d..9207a54fb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       # Create a release, or update the release PR
-      - uses: GoogleCloudPlatform/release-please-action@v2.5.5
+      - uses: GoogleCloudPlatform/release-please-action@v2.24.1
         id: release
         with:
           token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ jobs:
         run:  make cross-platform
         env:
           PKGER: "./pkger"
+          VERS: ${{ steps.release.outputs.tag_name }}
 
       # Upload all build artifacts whether it's a release or not
       - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 23fb7c59c..b57fb626d 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -11,7 +11,10 @@ CODE := $(shell find . -name '*.go')
 DATE := $(shell date -u +"%Y%m%dT%H%M%SZ")
 HASH := $(shell git rev-parse --short HEAD 2>/dev/null)
 VTAG := $(shell git tag --points-at HEAD)
-VERS := $(shell [ -z $(VTAG) ] && echo 'tip' || echo $(VTAG) )
+# a VERS environment variable takes precedence over git tags
+# due to issues with release-please-action tagging not working
+# as expected in CI
+VERS ?= $(shell [ -z $(VTAG) ] && echo 'tip' || echo $(VTAG) )
 
 TEMPLATE_DIRS=$(shell find templates -type d)
 TEMPLATE_FILES=$(shell find templates -type f -name '*')