diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 8214b4e..2271465 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -2,11 +2,16 @@
 BINARY_NAME := ${REPO_NAME}
 BUILD_DIR := ./build
 DIST_DIR := ./dist
-VERSION := $(shell git describe --tags --always --dirty 2>/dev/null || echo "dev")
+VERSION := $(shell git describe --tags --always --dirty 2>/dev/null || echo "0.1.0-dev")
 BUILD_TIME := $(shell date -u '+%Y-%m-%d_%H:%M:%S')
 GIT_COMMIT := $(shell git rev-parse HEAD 2>/dev/null || echo "unknown")
 DEB_PACKAGE_NAME := $(BINARY_NAME)_$(VERSION)_amd64.deb
 PKG_PATH=git.runcible.io/${REPO_OWNER}/${REPO_NAME}/cmd
+# Strict, Debian-compliant version for packaging.
+# It tries to find the latest tag (e.g., v1.2.3) and uses that.
+# If no tags exist, it defaults to "0.1.0-1", which is a valid starting version for a Debian package.
+DEB_VERSION := $(shell TAG=$$(git describe --tags --abbrev=0 2>/dev/null); if [ -n "$$TAG" ]; then echo $$TAG | sed 's/^v//'; else echo "0.1.0-1"; fi)
+
 
 # Default target
 .PHONY: all
@@ -32,9 +37,9 @@ clean:
 deb: build
 	@echo "Building Debian package..."
 	@mkdir -p $(DIST_DIR)
-	@mkdir -p $(DIST_DIR)/$(BINARY_NAME)_$(VERSION)
-	@mkdir -p $(DIST_DIR)/$(BINARY_NAME)_$(VERSION)/DEBIAN
-	@mkdir -p $(DIST_DIR)/$(BINARY_NAME)_$(VERSION)/opt/$(BINARY_NAME)
+	@mkdir -p $(DIST_DIR)/$(BINARY_NAME)_$(DEB_VERSION)
+	@mkdir -p $(DIST_DIR)/$(BINARY_NAME)_$(DEB_VERSION)/DEBIAN
+	@mkdir -p $(DIST_DIR)/$(BINARY_NAME)_$(DEB_VERSION)/opt/$(BINARY_NAME)
 	
 	# Copy binary
 	@cp $(BUILD_DIR)/$(BINARY_NAME) $(DIST_DIR)/$(BINARY_NAME)_$(VERSION)/opt/$(BINARY_NAME)/