diff --git a/Release.gitlab-ci.yml b/Release.gitlab-ci.yml
index 54e69e8..bb4d2d4 100644
--- a/Release.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/Release.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -244,7 +244,11 @@ unbound_release_tag:
   - 'apk add --no-cache git jq curl'
   script:
   - |
-    VERSION="$(cat VERSION)"
+    if [ ! -r .version ]; then
+      echo "Version file not found"
+      exit 0
+    fi
+    VERSION="$(cat .version 2>/dev/null | jq -r '.version')"
     LATEST="$(git describe --abbrev=0 --tags 2>/dev/null || echo '')"
     if [[ -n "${LATEST}" && "${VERSION}" == "${LATEST}" ]]; then
       echo "Version ${VERSION} already exists"