diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-bonsai-daily.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-bonsai-daily.yml
index da81386186..467d4df43e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-bonsai-daily.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-bonsai-daily.yml
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ jobs:
           python-version: '3.11'
       - name: Get current version
         id: version
-        run: echo "version=$(cat VERSION)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+        run: echo "version=$(sed -E 's/[[:alpha:]]+[0-9]+$//' VERSION)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
       - name: Compile
         run: |
           cd src/bonsai && make dist PLATFORM=${{ matrix.config.short_name }} PYVERSION=${{ matrix.pyver }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-ifcopenshell-conda-daily.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-ifcopenshell-conda-daily.yml
index 0e5bd4cbce..93e9f5506f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-ifcopenshell-conda-daily.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-ifcopenshell-conda-daily.yml
@@ -27,7 +27,9 @@ jobs:
       
       - name: Get current version
         id: version
-        run: echo "version=$(cat VERSION)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+        # Strip any trailing prerelease label and number; the dated alpha
+        # suffix is added below.
+        run: echo "version=$(sed -E 's/[[:alpha:]]+[0-9]+$//' VERSION)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
       
       - name: Get current date
         id: date
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci-ifcsverchok-daily.yml b/.github/workflows/ci-ifcsverchok-daily.yml
index d5a3653d3d..b369cf61b9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci-ifcsverchok-daily.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci-ifcsverchok-daily.yml
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ jobs:
           python-version: '3.11'
       - name: Get current version
         id: version
-        run: echo "version=$(cat VERSION)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+        run: echo "version=$(sed -E 's/[[:alpha:]]+[0-9]+$//' VERSION)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
       - name: Get current date
         id: date
         run: echo "date=$(date +'%y%m%d')" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 7fc2521fd7..d43e192601 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.8.6
+0.9.0alpha0
diff --git a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
index e12030b876..0b240ce0c8 100644
--- a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -36,6 +36,14 @@ file(READ "../VERSION" "RELEASE_VERSION_")
 string(STRIP "${RELEASE_VERSION_}" RELEASE_VERSION)
 message(STATUS "Detected version '${RELEASE_VERSION}'")
 
+# CMake's project(VERSION) only accepts numeric components. Keep the complete
+# release identifier for build information, but use its numeric release part
+# for PROJECT_VERSION, SOVERSION, and generated CMake package metadata.
+string(REGEX MATCH "^[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+" PROJECT_VERSION_NUMERIC "${RELEASE_VERSION}")
+if(NOT PROJECT_VERSION_NUMERIC)
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "VERSION must start with a numeric major.minor.patch version: '${RELEASE_VERSION}'")
+endif()
+
 add_definitions(-D_DISABLE_CONSTEXPR_MUTEX_CONSTRUCTOR)
 
 if(POLICY CMP0141) # 3.25+
@@ -55,9 +63,15 @@ endif()
 # Include utility macros and functions
 include(utilities.cmake)
 
-# use extra version to make pre-release using eg semver
+# Use a SemVer-compatible spelling for CPack artifact names. A trailing
+# alphabetic label and number is separated from the numeric version by a
+# hyphen: for example, 0.9.0alpha0 becomes 0.9.0-alpha0.
 if(NOT DEFINED EXTRA_VERSION)
-    set(EXTRA_VERSION "-alpha.3")
+    if(RELEASE_VERSION MATCHES "^[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+([A-Za-z]+)([0-9]+)$")
+        set(EXTRA_VERSION "-${CMAKE_MATCH_1}${CMAKE_MATCH_2}")
+    else()
+        set(EXTRA_VERSION "")
+    endif()
 endif()
 
 option(MINIMAL_BUILD "The build is to make a minimal version of IFC converter from OCCT into IFC." OFF)
@@ -119,7 +133,7 @@ option(WITH_ZSTD "Use Zstd compression in RocksDB writes" OFF)
 option(USERSPACE_PYTHON_PREFIX "Installs IfcPython for the current user only instead of system-wide." OFF)
 option(USE_DEBUG_PYTHON "Use debug binaries when building Debug IfcPython on Windows." OFF)
 option(ADD_COMMIT_SHA "Add commit sha and branch in version number, requires git" OFF)
-option(VERSION_OVERRIDE "Override the version defined in buildinfo.cpp with the file VERSION in the repository root" OFF)
+option(VERSION_OVERRIDE "Use VERSION as the branch label when commit information is embedded" OFF)
 
 set(
     PYTHON_MODULE_INSTALL_DIR
@@ -127,15 +141,7 @@ set(
     "Directory to install IfcPython package to. By default package is installed in found Python's site-packages."
 )
 
-if (VERSION_OVERRIDE)
-    file(READ "../VERSION" "RELEASE_VERSION_")
-    string(STRIP "${RELEASE_VERSION_}" RELEASE_VERSION)
-    message(STATUS "Detected version '${RELEASE_VERSION}'")
-else()
-    set(RELEASE_VERSION "0.8.0")
-endif()
-
-project(IfcOpenShell VERSION ${RELEASE_VERSION})
+project(IfcOpenShell VERSION ${PROJECT_VERSION_NUMERIC})
 
 # Make sure CMake modules in this project are found first
 list(PREPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR})
diff --git a/src/bonsai/Makefile b/src/bonsai/Makefile
index 6708457baa..e3cdfdfb7f 100644
--- a/src/bonsai/Makefile
+++ b/src/bonsai/Makefile
@@ -42,10 +42,12 @@ endif
 
 IS_STABLE:=FALSE
 VERSION:=$(shell cat ../../VERSION)
-VERSION_MAJOR:=$(shell cat '../../VERSION' | cut -d '.' -f 1)
-VERSION_MINOR:=$(shell cat '../../VERSION' | cut -d '.' -f 2)
-VERSION_PATCH:=$(shell cat '../../VERSION' | cut -d '.' -f 3)
+VERSION_BASE:=$(shell sed -E 's/[[:alpha:]]+[0-9]+$$//' ../../VERSION)
+VERSION_PYTHON:=$(shell sed 's/alpha/a/' ../../VERSION)
+VERSION_SEMVER:=$(shell sed -E 's/([[:alpha:]]+)([0-9]+)$$/-\\1\\2/' ../../VERSION)
 VERSION_DATE:=$(shell date '+%y%m%d')
+VERSION_DAILY:=$(VERSION_BASE)a$(VERSION_DATE)
+VERSION_SEMVER_DAILY:=$(VERSION_BASE)-alpha$(VERSION_DATE)
 LAST_COMMIT_HASH:=$(shell git rev-parse HEAD)
 LAST_COMMIT_DATE:=$(shell git show -s --format=%cI)
 LAST_GIT_BRANCH:=$(shell git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
@@ -260,14 +262,14 @@ endif
 
 	cp pyproject.toml build/
 ifeq ($(IS_STABLE), TRUE)
-	$(SED) "s/0.0.0/$(VERSION)/" build/bonsai/blender_manifest.toml
-	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION)"/' build/pyproject.toml
+	$(SED) "s/0.0.0/$(VERSION_SEMVER)/" build/bonsai/blender_manifest.toml
+	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION_PYTHON)"/' build/pyproject.toml
 else
-	$(SED) "s/0.0.0/$(VERSION)-alpha$(VERSION_DATE)/" build/bonsai/blender_manifest.toml
+	$(SED) "s/0.0.0/$(VERSION_SEMVER_DAILY)/" build/bonsai/blender_manifest.toml
 	$(SED) "s/8888888/$(LAST_COMMIT_HASH)/" build/bonsai/__init__.py
 	$(SED) "s/9999999/$(LAST_COMMIT_DATE)/" build/bonsai/__init__.py
 	$(SED) "s/7777777/$(LAST_GIT_BRANCH)/" build/bonsai/__init__.py
-	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION)-alpha$(VERSION_DATE)"/' build/pyproject.toml
+	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION_DAILY)"/' build/pyproject.toml
 endif
 
 # Blender 5.1+ requires Python 3.13.
@@ -279,9 +281,9 @@ endif
 
 	# Provides bonsai Add-on functionality
 ifeq ($(IS_STABLE), TRUE)
-	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION)"/' build/pyproject.toml
+	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION_PYTHON)"/' build/pyproject.toml
 else
-	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION)a$(VERSION_DATE)"/' build/pyproject.toml
+	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION_DAILY)"/' build/pyproject.toml
 endif
 	cd build && . env/$(VENV_ACTIVATE) && $(PYTHON) -m build
 	cp build/dist/*.whl build/wheels/
@@ -315,9 +317,9 @@ endif
 	rm -rf build/bonsai/libs/
 
 ifeq ($(IS_STABLE), TRUE)
-	cd build && zip -r bonsai_$(PYVERSION)-$(VERSION)-$(BLENDER_PLATFORM).zip ./bonsai
+	cd build && zip -r bonsai_$(PYVERSION)-$(VERSION_SEMVER)-$(BLENDER_PLATFORM).zip ./bonsai
 else
-	cd build && zip -r bonsai_$(PYVERSION)-$(VERSION)-alpha$(VERSION_DATE)-$(BLENDER_PLATFORM).zip ./bonsai
+	cd build && zip -r bonsai_$(PYVERSION)-$(VERSION_SEMVER_DAILY)-$(BLENDER_PLATFORM).zip ./bonsai
 endif
 
 	mv build/bonsai*.zip dist/
diff --git a/src/bonsai/bonsai/tool/blender.py b/src/bonsai/bonsai/tool/blender.py
index 92a9d2665f..5d67bed82b 100644
--- a/src/bonsai/bonsai/tool/blender.py
+++ b/src/bonsai/bonsai/tool/blender.py
@@ -1756,6 +1756,7 @@ class Blender(bonsai.core.tool.Blender):
             repo_path = repo.working_tree_dir
             assert repo_path
             version_ = (Path(repo_path) / "VERSION").read_text().strip()
+            version_ = re.sub(r"[A-Za-z]+\d+$", "", version_)
             commit_date = bonsai.get_last_commit_date()
             assert commit_date
             commit_date = datetime.fromisoformat(commit_date)
diff --git a/src/bonsai/docs/guides/development/maintenance.rst b/src/bonsai/docs/guides/development/maintenance.rst
index d9eda2267f..ecf5fe6c7d 100644
--- a/src/bonsai/docs/guides/development/maintenance.rst
+++ b/src/bonsai/docs/guides/development/maintenance.rst
@@ -76,6 +76,10 @@ Release
 Notes:
 
 - Typically all packages are released at once using the same version schema
+- ``VERSION`` uses Python/PEP 440-compatible spelling. For example, an alpha
+  release may be ``0.9.0alpha0`` (canonicalized to ``0.9.0a0``); build scripts
+  derive numeric-only and SemVer forms such as ``0.9.0`` and
+  ``0.9.0-alpha0`` where required.
 - The ``README.md`` badges can serve as a visual reference for what versions have been released
 - Corrective Release (if needed after a standard release):
 
diff --git a/src/common.mk b/src/common.mk
index cbc251fbe2..fea35539ff 100644
--- a/src/common.mk
+++ b/src/common.mk
@@ -3,7 +3,10 @@ IS_STABLE:=FALSE
 PYTHON:=python3
 PIP:=pip3
 VERSION:=$(shell cat ../../VERSION)
+VERSION_BASE:=$(shell sed -E 's/[[:alpha:]]+[0-9]+$$//' ../../VERSION)
+VERSION_PYTHON:=$(shell sed 's/alpha/a/' ../../VERSION)
 VERSION_DATE:=$(shell date '+%y%m%d')
+VERSION_DAILY:=$(VERSION_BASE)a$(VERSION_DATE)
 SED:=sed -i
 VENV_BIN:=bin
 
@@ -30,18 +33,18 @@ dist:
 	cp pyproject.toml build/
 	if [ -f README.md ]; then cp README.md build/; fi
 ifeq ($(IS_STABLE), TRUE)
-	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION)"/' build/pyproject.toml
+	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION_PYTHON)"/' build/pyproject.toml
 ifdef IS_MODULE
-	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION)"/' build/$(PACKAGE_NAME)
+	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION_PYTHON)"/' build/$(PACKAGE_NAME)
 else
-	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION)"/' build/$(PACKAGE_NAME)/__init__.py
+	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION_PYTHON)"/' build/$(PACKAGE_NAME)/__init__.py
 endif
 else
-	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION)a$(VERSION_DATE)"/' build/pyproject.toml
+	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION_DAILY)"/' build/pyproject.toml
 ifdef IS_MODULE
-	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION)-alpha$(VERSION_DATE)"/' build/$(PACKAGE_NAME)
+	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION_DAILY)"/' build/$(PACKAGE_NAME)
 else
-	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION)-alpha$(VERSION_DATE)"/' build/$(PACKAGE_NAME)/__init__.py
+	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION_DAILY)"/' build/$(PACKAGE_NAME)/__init__.py
 endif
 endif
 	cd build && $(PYTHON) -m venv env && . env/$(VENV_ACTIVATE) && $(PIP) install build
diff --git a/src/ifcopenshell-python/Makefile b/src/ifcopenshell-python/Makefile
index ae999f272c..2b25fac23f 100644
--- a/src/ifcopenshell-python/Makefile
+++ b/src/ifcopenshell-python/Makefile
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 SHELL := sh
 IS_STABLE:=FALSE
 VERSION:=$(shell cat ../../VERSION)
+VERSION_BASE:=$(shell sed -E 's/[[:alpha:]]+[0-9]+$$//' ../../VERSION)
+VERSION_PYTHON:=$(shell sed 's/alpha/a/' ../../VERSION)
 VERSION_DATE:=$(shell date '+%y%m%d')
+VERSION_DAILY:=$(VERSION_BASE)a$(VERSION_DATE)
 PYVERSION:=py311
 PLATFORM:=linux64
 
@@ -138,19 +141,19 @@ endif
 	cp ../../README.md build/
 	cp pyproject.toml build/
 ifeq ($(IS_STABLE), TRUE)
-	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION)"/' build/pyproject.toml
-	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION)"/' build/ifcopenshell/__init__.py
+	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION_PYTHON)"/' build/pyproject.toml
+	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION_PYTHON)"/' build/ifcopenshell/__init__.py
 else
-	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION)a$(VERSION_DATE)"/' build/pyproject.toml
-	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION)-alpha$(VERSION_DATE)"/' build/ifcopenshell/__init__.py
+	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION_DAILY)"/' build/pyproject.toml
+	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION_DAILY)"/' build/ifcopenshell/__init__.py
 endif
 
 	cd build && $(PYTHON) -m venv env && . env/$(VENV_ACTIVATE) && $(PIP) install build
 	cd build && . env/$(VENV_ACTIVATE) && $(PYTHON) -m build
 
 ifeq ($(IS_STABLE), TRUE)
-	mv build/dist/ifcopenshell-*.whl dist/ifcopenshell-$(VERSION)-$(PYVERSION)-none-$(PLATFORMTAG).whl
+	mv build/dist/ifcopenshell-*.whl dist/ifcopenshell-$(VERSION_PYTHON)-$(PYVERSION)-none-$(PLATFORMTAG).whl
 else
-	cp build/dist/ifcopenshell-*.whl dist/ifcopenshell-$(VERSION)a$(VERSION_DATE)-$(PYVERSION)-none-$(PLATFORMTAG).whl
+	cp build/dist/ifcopenshell-*.whl dist/ifcopenshell-$(VERSION_DAILY)-$(PYVERSION)-none-$(PLATFORMTAG).whl
 endif
 	rm -rf build
diff --git a/src/ifcsverchok/Makefile b/src/ifcsverchok/Makefile
index bc9dbcac8f..bfc759db6a 100644
--- a/src/ifcsverchok/Makefile
+++ b/src/ifcsverchok/Makefile
@@ -19,9 +19,10 @@
 VERSION:=`date '+%y%m%d'`
 IS_STABLE:=FALSE
 VERSION:=$(shell cat ../../VERSION)
-VERSION_MAJOR:=$(shell cat '../../VERSION' | cut -d '.' -f 1)
-VERSION_MINOR:=$(shell cat '../../VERSION' | cut -d '.' -f 2)
-VERSION_PATCH:=$(shell cat '../../VERSION' | cut -d '.' -f 3)
+VERSION_BASE:=$(shell sed -E 's/[[:alpha:]]+[0-9]+$$//' ../../VERSION)
+VERSION_MAJOR:=$(shell echo '$(VERSION_BASE)' | cut -d '.' -f 1)
+VERSION_MINOR:=$(shell echo '$(VERSION_BASE)' | cut -d '.' -f 2)
+VERSION_PATCH:=$(shell echo '$(VERSION_BASE)' | cut -d '.' -f 3)
 VERSION_DATE:=$(shell date '+%y%m%d')
 
 SED:=sed -i
@@ -40,7 +41,7 @@ ifeq ($(IS_STABLE), TRUE)
 	cd dist && zip -r ifcsverchok-$(VERSION).zip ./*
 else
 	cd dist/ifcsverchok && $(SED) "s/0, 0, 0/$(VERSION_MAJOR), $(VERSION_MINOR), $(VERSION_PATCH), $(VERSION_DATE)/" __init__.py
-	cd dist && zip -r ifcsverchok-$(VERSION).$(VERSION_DATE).zip ./*
+	cd dist && zip -r ifcsverchok-$(VERSION_BASE).$(VERSION_DATE).zip ./*
 endif
 	rm -rf dist/ifcsverchok
 
diff --git a/src/ifctester/Makefile b/src/ifctester/Makefile
index 71ecbd48d7..8649384bf2 100644
--- a/src/ifctester/Makefile
+++ b/src/ifctester/Makefile
@@ -94,11 +94,11 @@ webapp-stage-ifctester-wheel:
 	cp pyproject.toml $(WEBAPP_IFCTESTER_BUILD_DIR)/
 	cp README.md $(WEBAPP_IFCTESTER_BUILD_DIR)/
 ifeq ($(IS_STABLE), TRUE)
-	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION)"/' $(WEBAPP_IFCTESTER_BUILD_DIR)/pyproject.toml
-	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION)"/' $(WEBAPP_IFCTESTER_BUILD_DIR)/$(PACKAGE_NAME)/__init__.py
+	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION_PYTHON)"/' $(WEBAPP_IFCTESTER_BUILD_DIR)/pyproject.toml
+	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION_PYTHON)"/' $(WEBAPP_IFCTESTER_BUILD_DIR)/$(PACKAGE_NAME)/__init__.py
 else
-	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION)a$(VERSION_DATE)"/' $(WEBAPP_IFCTESTER_BUILD_DIR)/pyproject.toml
-	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION)-alpha$(VERSION_DATE)"/' $(WEBAPP_IFCTESTER_BUILD_DIR)/$(PACKAGE_NAME)/__init__.py
+	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION_DAILY)"/' $(WEBAPP_IFCTESTER_BUILD_DIR)/pyproject.toml
+	$(SED) 's/version = "0.0.0"/version = "$(VERSION_DAILY)"/' $(WEBAPP_IFCTESTER_BUILD_DIR)/$(PACKAGE_NAME)/__init__.py
 endif
 	cd $(WEBAPP_IFCTESTER_BUILD_DIR) && $(PYTHON) -m venv env --system-site-packages && . env/$(VENV_ACTIVATE) && python -m pip install build && python -m build --wheel --no-isolation
 	mkdir -p $(WEBAPP_GENERATED_DIR)