diff --git a/.version.sh b/.version.sh
index 14adccb..46d1abf 100755
--- a/.version.sh
+++ b/.version.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
+
 read -r firstline < .VERSION
-last_half="${firstline##*tag: }"
-if [[ ${last_half::1} == "v" ]]; then
-    version_string="${last_half%%[,)]*}"
+tag_value="${firstline##*tag: }"
+
+if [[ "${tag_value:0:1}" == "v" ]]; then
+    version_string="${tag_value%%[,)]*}"
 fi
+
 echo "${version_string:-v0.0.0}"