diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
index 8630cbd..368bc8b 100644
--- a/install.sh
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ CONF_DIR="/etc/$APP_NAME"
 ENV_FILE="$CONF_DIR/env"
 SERVICE_NAME="$APP_NAME"
 
-VERSION=""; UNATTENDED=0; DRY_RUN=0; UNINSTALL=0; PURGE=0
+KEYNEST_VERSION=""; UNATTENDED=0; DRY_RUN=0; UNINSTALL=0; PURGE=0
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------- logging ---
 if [ -t 1 ] && [ -z "${NO_COLOR:-}" ]; then
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ EOF
 
 for arg in "$@"; do
     case "$arg" in
-        --version=*)  VERSION="${arg#*=}" ;;
+        --version=*)  KEYNEST_VERSION="${arg#*=}" ;;
         --unattended) UNATTENDED=1 ;;
         --dry-run)    DRY_RUN=1 ;;
         --uninstall)  UNINSTALL=1 ;;
@@ -213,17 +213,21 @@ if [ ! -f "$ENV_FILE" ]; then
 fi
 
 # --------------------------------------------------------- resolve version --
-if [ -z "$VERSION" ]; then
+if [ -z "$KEYNEST_VERSION" ]; then
     info "resolving latest stable version"
-    VERSION=$($FETCH "https://api.github.com/repos/$GH_REPO/releases/latest" \
+    KEYNEST_VERSION=$($FETCH "https://api.github.com/repos/$GH_REPO/releases/latest" \
         | grep '"tag_name"' | head -1 | cut -d'"' -f4) \
         || fatal 31 "could not resolve the latest version (GitHub rate-limit?). Use --version=X.Y.Z"
-    [ -n "$VERSION" ] || fatal 31 "no stable release found yet. Use --version=X.Y.Z"
+    [ -n "$KEYNEST_VERSION" ] || fatal 31 "no stable release found yet. Use --version=X.Y.Z"
 fi
-VERSION_NORM=$(echo "$VERSION" | sed 's/^v//')
+VERSION_NORM=$(echo "$KEYNEST_VERSION" | sed 's/^v//')
+case "$KEYNEST_VERSION" in
+    v*) KEYNEST_TAG="$KEYNEST_VERSION" ;;
+    *)  KEYNEST_TAG="v$KEYNEST_VERSION" ;;
+esac
 ASSET="${APP_NAME}_${VERSION_NORM}_linux_${REL_ARCH}.tar.gz"
-BASE_URL="https://github.com/$GH_REPO/releases/download/$VERSION"
-info "version: $VERSION"
+BASE_URL="https://github.com/$GH_REPO/releases/download/$KEYNEST_TAG"
+info "version: $KEYNEST_VERSION"
 
 # connectivity pre-flight BEFORE touching the system
 $FETCH "https://github.com/$GH_REPO" >/dev/null \
@@ -239,7 +243,7 @@ trap cleanup EXIT INT TERM
 
 info "downloading $ASSET"
 fetch_to "$BASE_URL/$ASSET" "$TMP/$ASSET" || fatal 32 "download failed: $BASE_URL/$ASSET"
-fetch_to "$BASE_URL/checksums.txt" "$TMP/checksums.txt" || fatal 32 "checksums.txt not found in release $VERSION"
+fetch_to "$BASE_URL/checksums.txt" "$TMP/checksums.txt" || fatal 32 "checksums.txt not found in release $KEYNEST_VERSION"
 [ -s "$TMP/$ASSET" ] || fatal 32 "downloaded asset is empty"
 
 SUM_FILE=$(sha256sum "$TMP/$ASSET" | awk '{print $1}')
@@ -378,7 +382,7 @@ fi
 
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------ summary --
 printf '\n%s================ %s installed ================%s\n' "$C_G" "$APP_NAME" "$C_0"
-printf 'Version:  %s%s\n' "$VERSION" "$( [ "$UPGRADING" -eq 1 ] && echo ' (upgrade)' || true)"
+printf 'Version:  %s%s\n' "$KEYNEST_VERSION" "$( [ "$UPGRADING" -eq 1 ] && echo ' (upgrade)' || true)"
 printf 'App:      %s -> %s\n' "$OPT_DIR/current" "$RELEASE_DIR"
 printf 'Node:     %s\n' "$NODE_BIN"
 printf 'Data:     %s\n' "$STATE_DIR"