diff --git a/app/Jobs/SetupOpenClawOnServerJob.php b/app/Jobs/SetupOpenClawOnServerJob.php
index 91f6e06..72586e9 100644
--- a/app/Jobs/SetupOpenClawOnServerJob.php
+++ b/app/Jobs/SetupOpenClawOnServerJob.php
@@ -171,17 +171,42 @@ private function captureOpenClawVersion(SshService $sshService): void
     {
         try {
             $output = trim($sshService->exec('openclaw --version'));
-            // Output is like "openclaw v2026.3.8" — extract the version part
-            $version = Str::after($output, 'openclaw ');
+            $version = self::parseOpenClawVersion($output);
             if ($version) {
                 $this->server->update(['openclaw_version' => $version]);
                 Log::info("OpenClaw {$version} installed on server {$this->server->id}");
+            } else {
+                Log::warning("Could not parse OpenClaw version from output on server {$this->server->id}: {$output}");
             }
         } catch (\RuntimeException $e) {
             Log::warning("Could not determine OpenClaw version on server {$this->server->id}: {$e->getMessage()}");
         }
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Extract the version string from `openclaw --version` output.
+     *
+     * Handles every observed format across OpenClaw releases:
+     *   - "openclaw v2026.3.8"            (≤ 5.5, lowercase + "v")
+     *   - "openclaw 2026.5.19 (c97b9f7)"  (5.6+, lowercase, no v, build hash)
+     *   - "OpenClaw 2026.5.19"            (capital O, no prefix)
+     *   - "v2026.5.19" / "2026.5.19"      (bare)
+     *
+     * Returns the bare version string (e.g. "2026.5.19") with any leading
+     * "v" stripped and trailing build hash discarded. Returns null when the
+     * output doesn't contain a recognisable semver-ish token.
+     *
+     * Fixes issue #29.
+     */
+    public static function parseOpenClawVersion(string $output): ?string
+    {
+        if (preg_match('/(\d{4}\.\d+\.\d+(?:[-.][a-z0-9.]+)?)/i', $output, $matches)) {
+            return ltrim($matches[1], 'v');
+        }
+
+        return null;
+    }
+
     private function logProgress(string $step): void
     {
         $this->server->events()->create([
diff --git a/tests/Unit/Jobs/SetupOpenClawOnServerJobTest.php b/tests/Unit/Jobs/SetupOpenClawOnServerJobTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0a92da5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Unit/Jobs/SetupOpenClawOnServerJobTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+<?php
+
+use App\Jobs\SetupOpenClawOnServerJob;
+
+test('parses lowercase v-prefix format (pre-5.6 OpenClaw)', function () {
+    expect(SetupOpenClawOnServerJob::parseOpenClawVersion('openclaw v2026.3.8'))
+        ->toBe('2026.3.8');
+});
+
+test('parses lowercase no-prefix format with build hash (5.6+)', function () {
+    expect(SetupOpenClawOnServerJob::parseOpenClawVersion('openclaw 2026.5.6 (c97b9f7)'))
+        ->toBe('2026.5.6');
+});
+
+test('parses 5.19 format from the actual openclaw binary', function () {
+    expect(SetupOpenClawOnServerJob::parseOpenClawVersion('openclaw 2026.5.19 (abc1234)'))
+        ->toBe('2026.5.19');
+});
+
+test('parses capital O variant (OpenClaw 2026.5.19)', function () {
+    expect(SetupOpenClawOnServerJob::parseOpenClawVersion('OpenClaw 2026.5.19'))
+        ->toBe('2026.5.19');
+});
+
+test('parses bare version string with leading v', function () {
+    expect(SetupOpenClawOnServerJob::parseOpenClawVersion('v2026.5.19'))
+        ->toBe('2026.5.19');
+});
+
+test('parses bare version string without leading v', function () {
+    expect(SetupOpenClawOnServerJob::parseOpenClawVersion('2026.5.19'))
+        ->toBe('2026.5.19');
+});
+
+test('parses prerelease version (2026.5.20-beta.1)', function () {
+    expect(SetupOpenClawOnServerJob::parseOpenClawVersion('openclaw 2026.5.20-beta.1'))
+        ->toBe('2026.5.20-beta.1');
+});
+
+test('returns null for unparseable output', function () {
+    expect(SetupOpenClawOnServerJob::parseOpenClawVersion(''))->toBeNull()
+        ->and(SetupOpenClawOnServerJob::parseOpenClawVersion('command not found'))->toBeNull()
+        ->and(SetupOpenClawOnServerJob::parseOpenClawVersion('openclaw'))->toBeNull();
+});
+
+test('extracts version when wrapped in noise', function () {
+    expect(SetupOpenClawOnServerJob::parseOpenClawVersion("Warning: foo\nopenclaw 2026.5.19 (abc)"))
+        ->toBe('2026.5.19');
+});