diff --git a/.github/workflows/gateway-helm-release.yml b/.github/workflows/gateway-helm-release.yml
index 6f0d0bd5f..7fff03eaa 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/gateway-helm-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/gateway-helm-release.yml
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ on:
         required: true
         type: string
       appVersion:
-        description: 'App version (e.g., v1.0.0-m4)'
+        description: 'App version (e.g., 1.0.0-m4)'
         required: true
         type: string
 
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@ jobs:
             echo "::error::Invalid version '${CHART_VERSION}'. Expected semver (e.g. 1.0.0 or 1.0.0-alpha.1)."
             exit 1
           fi
-          if ! echo "${APP_VERSION}" | grep -qE '^v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+(-[a-zA-Z0-9._-]+)?$'; then
-            echo "::error::Invalid appVersion '${APP_VERSION}'. Expected v-prefixed semver (e.g. v1.0.0-m4)."
+          if ! echo "${APP_VERSION}" | grep -qE '^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+(-[a-zA-Z0-9._-]+)?$'; then
+            echo "::error::Invalid appVersion '${APP_VERSION}'. Expected semver (e.g. 1.0.0-m4)."
             exit 1
           fi