diff --git a/zero-gravity/zerog.Dockerfile b/zero-gravity/zerog.Dockerfile
index aa14c6fc..a577d3ec 100644
--- a/zero-gravity/zerog.Dockerfile
+++ b/zero-gravity/zerog.Dockerfile
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ RUN set -eu; \
 # version, nor the layout. Assert on the binaries here so the NEXT upstream reshuffle
 # reports itself at the point of failure instead.
 RUN set -eu; \
+    VERSION="${ZERO_GRAVITY_VERSION#v}"; \
     SRC="/tmp/${ZERO_GRAVITY_CHAIN_SPEC}-v${VERSION}"; \
     tar -xzf "${SRC}.tar.gz" -C /tmp; \
     mkdir -p /0g; \