diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3d8a27db3e79d..555afd3f0c62e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -585,10 +585,11 @@ ${CHANNELS}:
 .PHONY: release-tag
 release-tag:
 	git tag ${KOPS_RELEASE_VERSION}
+	git tag v${KOPS_RELEASE_VERSION}
 
 .PHONY: release-github
 release-github:
-	shipbot -tag ${KOPS_RELEASE_VERSION} -config .shipbot.yaml
+	shipbot -tag v${KOPS_RELEASE_VERSION} -config .shipbot.yaml
 
 # --------------------------------------------------
 # API / embedding examples