diff --git a/pkg/apis/v1/ec2nodeclass_conversion.go b/pkg/apis/v1/ec2nodeclass_conversion.go
index caa5284d13c3..86ccdf5e6a20 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/v1/ec2nodeclass_conversion.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/v1/ec2nodeclass_conversion.go
@@ -51,6 +51,17 @@ func (in *EC2NodeClass) ConvertTo(ctx context.Context, to apis.Convertible) erro
 		v1beta1enc.Spec.AMIFamily = lo.ToPtr(in.AMIFamily())
 	}
 
+	if term, ok := lo.Find(in.Spec.AMISelectorTerms, func(term AMISelectorTerm) bool {
+		return term.Alias != ""
+	}); ok {
+		version := AMIVersionFromAlias(term.Alias)
+		if version != "latest" {
+			v1beta1enc.Annotations = lo.Assign(v1beta1enc.Annotations, map[string]string{
+				AnnotationAliasVersionCompatibilityKey: version,
+			})
+		}
+	}
+
 	in.Spec.convertTo(&v1beta1enc.Spec)
 	in.Status.convertTo((&v1beta1enc.Status))
 	return nil
@@ -127,6 +138,7 @@ func (in *EC2NodeClassStatus) convertTo(v1beta1enc *v1beta1.EC2NodeClassStatus)
 func (in *EC2NodeClass) ConvertFrom(ctx context.Context, from apis.Convertible) error {
 	v1beta1enc := from.(*v1beta1.EC2NodeClass)
 	in.ObjectMeta = v1beta1enc.ObjectMeta
+	in.Annotations = lo.OmitByKeys(in.Annotations, []string{AnnotationAliasVersionCompatibilityKey})
 
 	switch lo.FromPtr(v1beta1enc.Spec.AMIFamily) {
 	case AMIFamilyAL2, AMIFamilyAL2023, AMIFamilyBottlerocket, AMIFamilyWindows2019, AMIFamilyWindows2022:
@@ -135,7 +147,11 @@ func (in *EC2NodeClass) ConvertFrom(ctx context.Context, from apis.Convertible)
 		if len(v1beta1enc.Spec.AMISelectorTerms) == 0 {
 			in.Spec.AMIFamily = nil
 			in.Spec.AMISelectorTerms = []AMISelectorTerm{{
-				Alias: fmt.Sprintf("%s@latest", strings.ToLower(lo.FromPtr(v1beta1enc.Spec.AMIFamily))),
+				Alias: fmt.Sprintf(
+					"%s@%s",
+					strings.ToLower(lo.FromPtr(v1beta1enc.Spec.AMIFamily)),
+					lo.ValueOr(v1beta1enc.Annotations, AnnotationAliasVersionCompatibilityKey, "latest"),
+				),
 			}}
 		} else {
 			in.Spec.AMIFamily = v1beta1enc.Spec.AMIFamily
diff --git a/pkg/apis/v1/ec2nodeclass_conversion_test.go b/pkg/apis/v1/ec2nodeclass_conversion_test.go
index 4c25eec22ca7..a598e72f030b 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/v1/ec2nodeclass_conversion_test.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/v1/ec2nodeclass_conversion_test.go
@@ -121,6 +121,12 @@ var _ = Describe("Convert v1 to v1beta1 EC2NodeClass API", func() {
 			Expect(v1ec2nodeclass.ConvertTo(ctx, v1beta1ec2nodeclass)).To(Succeed())
 			Expect(lo.FromPtr(v1beta1ec2nodeclass.Spec.AMIFamily)).To(Equal(v1beta1.AMIFamilyAL2023))
 		})
+		It("should convert v1 ec2nodeclass alias (pinned)", func() {
+			v1ec2nodeclass.Spec.AMISelectorTerms = []AMISelectorTerm{{Alias: "al2023@v20240807"}}
+			Expect(v1ec2nodeclass.ConvertTo(ctx, v1beta1ec2nodeclass)).To(Succeed())
+			Expect(lo.FromPtr(v1beta1ec2nodeclass.Spec.AMIFamily)).To(Equal(v1beta1.AMIFamilyAL2023))
+			Expect(v1beta1ec2nodeclass.Annotations).To(HaveKeyWithValue(AnnotationAliasVersionCompatibilityKey, "v20240807"))
+		})
 		It("should convert v1 ec2nodeclass ami selector terms with the Ubuntu compatibility annotation", func() {
 			v1ec2nodeclass.Annotations = lo.Assign(v1ec2nodeclass.Annotations, map[string]string{
 				AnnotationUbuntuCompatibilityKey: fmt.Sprintf("%s,%s", AnnotationUbuntuCompatibilityAMIFamily, AnnotationUbuntuCompatibilityBlockDeviceMappings),
@@ -402,6 +408,14 @@ var _ = Describe("Convert v1beta1 to v1 EC2NodeClass API", func() {
 			Expect(v1ec2nodeclass.ConvertFrom(ctx, v1beta1ec2nodeclass)).To(Succeed())
 			Expect(v1ec2nodeclass.Spec.AMISelectorTerms).To(ContainElement(AMISelectorTerm{Alias: "al2023@latest"}))
 		})
+		It("should convert v1beta1 ec2nodeclass ami family (alias version annotation)", func() {
+			v1beta1ec2nodeclass.Spec.AMIFamily = &v1beta1.AMIFamilyAL2023
+			v1beta1ec2nodeclass.Annotations = lo.Assign(v1beta1ec2nodeclass.Annotations, map[string]string{
+				AnnotationAliasVersionCompatibilityKey: "v20240807",
+			})
+			Expect(v1ec2nodeclass.ConvertFrom(ctx, v1beta1ec2nodeclass)).To(Succeed())
+			Expect(v1ec2nodeclass.Spec.AMISelectorTerms).To(ContainElement(AMISelectorTerm{Alias: "al2023@v20240807"}))
+		})
 		It("should convert v1beta1 ec2nodeclass ami family with non-custom ami family and ami selector terms", func() {
 			v1beta1ec2nodeclass.Spec.AMIFamily = &v1beta1.AMIFamilyAL2023
 			v1beta1ec2nodeclass.Spec.AMISelectorTerms = []v1beta1.AMISelectorTerm{{
diff --git a/pkg/apis/v1/labels.go b/pkg/apis/v1/labels.go
index c391b0faab01..9ffa96c0d925 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/v1/labels.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/v1/labels.go
@@ -131,6 +131,8 @@ var (
 	AnnotationUbuntuCompatibilityAMIFamily           = "amiFamily"
 	AnnotationUbuntuCompatibilityBlockDeviceMappings = "blockDeviceMappings"
 
+	AnnotationAliasVersionCompatibilityKey = apis.CompatibilityGroup + "/v1-alias-version"
+
 	TagNodeClaim             = coreapis.Group + "/nodeclaim"
 	TagManagedLaunchTemplate = apis.Group + "/cluster"
 	TagName                  = "Name"