diff --git a/.github/workflows/pnl-ci-docs.yml b/.github/workflows/pnl-ci-docs.yml
index eabd0b8d508..15eaf6f60a4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pnl-ci-docs.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pnl-ci-docs.yml
@@ -39,20 +39,24 @@ jobs:
       on_master: ${{ steps.on_master.outputs.on-branch }}
 
     steps:
+    # increased fetch-depth and tag checkout needed as in pnl-ci.yml
     - name: Checkout sources
       uses: actions/checkout@v3
       if: ${{ matrix.pnl-version == 'head' }}
       with:
-        fetch-depth: 10
+        fetch-depth: 200
         ref: ${{ github.ref }}
 
     - name: Checkout pull base
       uses: actions/checkout@v3
       if: ${{ matrix.pnl-version == 'base' }}
       with:
-        fetch-depth: 10
+        fetch-depth: 200
         ref: ${{ github.base_ref }}
 
+    - name: Checkout tags
+      run: git fetch --tags origin master
+
     - name: Check if on master
       if: ${{ github.event_name == 'push' }}
       id: on_master
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pnl-ci.yml b/.github/workflows/pnl-ci.yml
index 5794cd75646..4e1088a429b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pnl-ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pnl-ci.yml
@@ -40,10 +40,18 @@ jobs:
             os: macos-latest
 
     steps:
+    # increased fetch-depth and tag checkout needed to get correct
+    # version string from versioneer (must have history to a prior tag);
+    # otherwise install fails due to circular dependency with modeci_mdf
     - name: Checkout sources
       uses: actions/checkout@v3
       with:
-        fetch-depth: 10
+        fetch-depth: 200
+
+    # fetch only master to avoid getting unneeded branches with
+    # characters invalid on windows
+    - name: Checkout tags
+      run: git fetch --tags origin master
 
     - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
       uses: actions/setup-python@v3