diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
index 8812a0ff..d4e90b31 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -41,13 +41,13 @@ jobs:
           node --input-type=module - <<'EOF'
           import fs from 'node:fs';
           import { execFileSync } from 'node:child_process';
-          const tags = execFileSync('git', [ 'tag', '--list', 'pre-alpha-*' ], { encoding: 'utf8' }).trim().split('\n');
+          const tags = execFileSync('git', [ 'tag', '--list', 'alpha-*' ], { encoding: 'utf8' }).trim().split('\n');
           let latest = 0;
           for (const tag of tags) {
-            const match = tag.match(/^pre-alpha-(\d+)$/);
+            const match = tag.match(/^alpha-(\d+)$/);
             if (match) latest = Math.max(latest, +match[1]);
           }
-          const release = `pre-alpha ${latest + 1}`;
+          const release = `alpha ${latest + 1}`;
           const sha = process.env.GITHUB_SHA.slice(0, 7);
           const date = new Date().toISOString().slice(0, 10);
           const version = `${release} (${sha} ${date})`;
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ jobs:
           if (replaced === src) throw new Error('version string not found');
           fs.writeFileSync(path, replaced);
           const tag = release.replace(' ', '-');
-          const previousTag = latest === 0 ? '' : `pre-alpha-${latest}`;
+          const previousTag = latest === 0 ? '' : `alpha-${latest}`;
           fs.appendFileSync(process.env.GITHUB_OUTPUT, `release=${release}\nversion=${version}\ntag=${tag}\nprevious_tag=${previousTag}\n`);
           EOF
       - name: bundle selfhost compiler
diff --git a/runtime/index.js b/runtime/index.js
index 24dc79a6..7bd73ec2 100644
--- a/runtime/index.js
+++ b/runtime/index.js
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 import fs from 'node:fs';
 import { execFileSync } from 'node:child_process';
 import '../compiler/prefs.js';
-globalThis.version = 'pre-alpha 1 (ba4813d 2026-07-15)';
+globalThis.version = 'alpha 1 (ba4813d 2026-07-15)';
 
 const DEFAULT_EXPORT_PATTERN = /^\s*export\s+(?:default\b|\{[^}]*\bdefault\b[^}]*\})/m;
 const MODULE_SYNTAX_PATTERN = /^\s*(?:export|import)\s/m;