diff --git a/data/meson.build b/data/meson.build
index 583cf18e..60ea9764 100644
--- a/data/meson.build
+++ b/data/meson.build
@@ -29,12 +29,18 @@ endif
 if is_release
   development_release = ''
 else
+  release_version = major_version + '~'
+  if pre_release_version != ''
+    release_version += pre_release_version + '-'
+  endif
+  release_version += devel_version
+
   development_release = '''
     <release version="@0@" type="development" date="@1@">
       <description>
         <p>Development release.</p>
       </description>
-    </release>'''.format(version.replace('-', '~'), release_date)
+    </release>'''.format(release_version, release_date)
 endif
 appdata_conf = configuration_data()
 appdata_conf.set('app-id', application_id)
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 9befb689..54a23832 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 project('fractal',
         'rust',
-        version: '5-alpha1',
+        version: '5.alpha1',
         license: 'GPL-3.0-or-later',
         meson_version: '>= 0.59')
 
@@ -8,7 +8,9 @@ i18n = import('i18n')
 gnome = import('gnome')
 
 base_id = 'org.gnome.Fractal'
-base_version = meson.project_version()
+
+major_version = '5'
+pre_release_version = 'alpha1'
 
 dependency('glib-2.0', version: '>= 2.72') # update when changing gtk version
 dependency('gio-2.0', version: '>= 2.72') # always same version as glib
@@ -65,15 +67,15 @@ else
 endif
 
 if is_release
-  version = base_version
+  devel_version = ''
   release_date = '' # should be unused with released versions
   application_id = base_id
 else
   vcs_tag = run_command('git', 'rev-parse', '--short', 'HEAD').stdout().strip()
   if vcs_tag == ''
-    version = '@0@+@1@'.format(base_version, profile.to_lower())
+    devel_version = profile.to_lower()
   else
-    version = '@0@+@1@'.format(base_version, vcs_tag)
+    devel_version = vcs_tag
   endif
   release_date = run_command('git', 'show', '-s', '--format=%cI').stdout().strip()
   application_id = '@0@.@1@'.format(base_id, profile)
@@ -81,7 +83,7 @@ endif
 
 meson.add_dist_script(
   'build-aux/dist-vendor.sh',
-  meson.project_build_root() / 'meson-dist' / meson.project_name() + '-' + base_version,
+  meson.project_build_root() / 'meson-dist' / meson.project_name() + '-' + major_version + '.' + pre_release_version,
   meson.project_source_root()
 )
 
diff --git a/src/meson.build b/src/meson.build
index 439d313c..8e4f68f9 100644
--- a/src/meson.build
+++ b/src/meson.build
@@ -1,3 +1,11 @@
+version = major_version
+if pre_release_version != ''
+  version += '.' + pre_release_version
+endif
+if devel_version != ''
+  version += '-' + devel_version
+endif
+
 global_conf = configuration_data()
 global_conf.set_quoted('APP_ID', application_id)
 global_conf.set_quoted('PKGDATADIR', pkgdatadir)