diff --git a/.github/workflows/docker-publish.yml b/.github/workflows/docker-publish.yml
index cf77677..d75cb1e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/docker-publish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docker-publish.yml
@@ -56,5 +56,7 @@ jobs:
           sbom: false
           tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
           labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }}
+          build-args: |
+            VERSION=${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}
           cache-from: type=gha
           cache-to: type=gha,mode=max
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 925de01..d89ea04 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 #
 # Build:
 #   docker buildx build --platform linux/amd64,linux/arm64 \
-#     -t mediastation-go:latest --push .
+#     --build-arg VERSION=MediaStationGo-v0.1.16 -t mediastation-go:latest --push .
 #
 # Optional Intel VAAPI/QSV runtime packages:
 #   docker buildx build --build-arg WITH_VAAPI=true ...
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ FROM --platform=$BUILDPLATFORM golang:1.25-alpine AS backend
 ARG TARGETOS
 ARG TARGETARCH
 ARG GOPROXY=https://proxy.golang.org,direct
+ARG VERSION=dev
 ENV GOPROXY=${GOPROXY}
 WORKDIR /app
 COPY go.mod go.sum ./
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ COPY . .
 COPY --from=frontend /app/web/dist ./web/dist
 RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/go/pkg/mod \
     CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=${TARGETOS} GOARCH=${TARGETARCH} \
-    go build -trimpath -ldflags="-s -w" -o mediastation-go ./cmd/server
+    go build -trimpath -ldflags="-s -w -X main.version=${VERSION}" -o mediastation-go ./cmd/server
 
 # ---- Stage 3: runtime ------------------------------------------------------
 FROM alpine:3.23
diff --git a/cmd/server/main.go b/cmd/server/main.go
index 6b8dd70..5eafad8 100644
--- a/cmd/server/main.go
+++ b/cmd/server/main.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"os/signal"
+	"strings"
 	"syscall"
 	"time"
 
@@ -33,6 +34,20 @@ import (
 // version is overwritten at build time via -ldflags="-X main.version=...".
 var version = "dev"
 
+func effectiveVersion(buildVersion string) string {
+	buildVersion = strings.TrimSpace(buildVersion)
+	if buildVersion != "" && buildVersion != "dev" {
+		return buildVersion
+	}
+	if envVersion := strings.TrimSpace(os.Getenv("MEDIASTATION_VERSION")); envVersion != "" {
+		return envVersion
+	}
+	if buildVersion == "" {
+		return "dev"
+	}
+	return buildVersion
+}
+
 func main() {
 	cfg, err := config.Load()
 	if err != nil {
@@ -47,8 +62,9 @@ func main() {
 	}
 	defer func() { _ = logger.Sync() }()
 
+	appVersion := effectiveVersion(version)
 	logger.Info("starting MediaStationGo",
-		zap.String("version", version),
+		zap.String("version", appVersion),
 		zap.Int("port", cfg.App.Port),
 		zap.String("data_dir", cfg.App.DataDir),
 	)
@@ -77,7 +93,7 @@ func main() {
 	repos := repository.New(db)
 	service.ApplyRuntimeSettings(context.Background(), cfg, repos, logger)
 	applyCPUThreadLimit(cfg, logger)
-	services := service.NewWithVersion(cfg, logger, repos, version)
+	services := service.NewWithVersion(cfg, logger, repos, appVersion)
 
 	if repaired, err := services.RepairCloudPathMetadata(context.Background()); err != nil {
 		logger.Warn("cloud path metadata repair failed", zap.Error(err))
diff --git a/cmd/server/main_test.go b/cmd/server/main_test.go
index 0f2ce25..7f1bd36 100644
--- a/cmd/server/main_test.go
+++ b/cmd/server/main_test.go
@@ -11,6 +11,30 @@ import (
 	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
 )
 
+func TestEffectiveVersionPrefersBuildVersion(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Setenv("MEDIASTATION_VERSION", "MediaStationGo-v0.1.15")
+
+	if got := effectiveVersion("MediaStationGo-v0.1.16"); got != "MediaStationGo-v0.1.16" {
+		t.Fatalf("effectiveVersion = %q, want MediaStationGo-v0.1.16", got)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestEffectiveVersionUsesEnvWhenBuildVersionIsDev(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Setenv("MEDIASTATION_VERSION", " MediaStationGo-v0.1.16 ")
+
+	if got := effectiveVersion("dev"); got != "MediaStationGo-v0.1.16" {
+		t.Fatalf("effectiveVersion = %q, want MediaStationGo-v0.1.16", got)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestEffectiveVersionDefaultsToDev(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Setenv("MEDIASTATION_VERSION", "")
+
+	if got := effectiveVersion(""); got != "dev" {
+		t.Fatalf("effectiveVersion = %q, want dev", got)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestServeSPANoCachesIndexAndServesRoutes(t *testing.T) {
 	gin.SetMode(gin.TestMode)
 	webDir := t.TempDir()