diff --git a/obs-packaging/gen_versions_txt.sh b/obs-packaging/gen_versions_txt.sh
index 09d96cafc3..31d3550aba 100755
--- a/obs-packaging/gen_versions_txt.sh
+++ b/obs-packaging/gen_versions_txt.sh
@@ -26,22 +26,34 @@ get_kata_version() {
 
 gen_version_file() {
 	local branch="$1"
-	[ -n "${branch}" ] || exit 1
+	local use_head="$2"
+	local ref="refs/heads/${branch}"
+	local kata_version="${branch}"
 
-	local kata_version=$(get_kata_version "${branch}")
-	kata_runtime_hash=$(get_kata_hash_from_tag "runtime" "${kata_version}")
-	kata_proxy_hash=$(get_kata_hash_from_tag "proxy" "${kata_version}")
-	kata_shim_hash=$(get_kata_hash_from_tag "shim" "${kata_version}")
-	kata_agent_hash=$(get_kata_hash_from_tag "agent" "${kata_version}")
-	kata_ksm_throttler_hash=$(get_kata_hash_from_tag "ksm-throttler" "${kata_version}")
+	if [ -n "$branch" ] && [ -z "${use_head}" ]; then
+		kata_version=$(get_kata_version "${branch}")
+		ref="refs/tags/${kata_version}^{}"
+	fi
+
+	kata_runtime_hash=$(get_kata_hash "runtime" "${ref}")
+	kata_proxy_hash=$(get_kata_hash "proxy" "${ref}")
+	kata_shim_hash=$(get_kata_hash "shim" "${ref}")
+	kata_agent_hash=$(get_kata_hash "agent" "${ref}")
+	kata_ksm_throttler_hash=$(get_kata_hash "ksm-throttler" "${ref}")
 
 	qemu_lite_branch=$(get_from_kata_deps "assets.hypervisor.qemu-lite.branch" "${kata_version}")
 	qemu_lite_version=$(curl -s -L "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/${project}/qemu/${qemu_lite_branch}/VERSION")
 	qemu_lite_hash=$(git ls-remote https://github.com/${project}/qemu.git | grep "refs/heads/${qemu_lite_branch}" | awk '{print $1}')
 
 	qemu_vanilla_branch=$(get_from_kata_deps "assets.hypervisor.qemu.version" "${kata_version}")
+	# Check if qemu.version can be used to get the version and hash, otherwise use qemu.tag
+	qemu_vanilla_ref="refs/heads/${qemu_vanilla_branch}"
+	if ! (git ls-remote --heads "https://github.com/qemu/qemu.git" | grep -q "refs/heads/${qemu_vanilla_branch}"); then
+		qemu_vanilla_branch=$(get_from_kata_deps "assets.hypervisor.qemu.tag" "${kata_version}")
+		qemu_vanilla_ref="refs/tags/${qemu_vanilla_branch}^{}"
+	fi
 	qemu_vanilla_version=$(curl -s -L "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/qemu/qemu/${qemu_vanilla_branch}/VERSION")
-	qemu_vanilla_hash=$(git ls-remote https://github.com/qemu/qemu.git | grep "refs/heads/${qemu_vanilla_branch}" | awk '{print $1}')
+	qemu_vanilla_hash=$(git ls-remote https://github.com/qemu/qemu.git | grep "${qemu_vanilla_ref}" | awk '{print $1}')
 
 	kernel_version=$(get_from_kata_deps "assets.kernel.version" "${kata_version}")
 	#Remove extra 'v'
@@ -52,6 +64,7 @@ gen_version_file() {
 
 	# - is not a valid char for rpmbuild
 	# see https://github.com/semver/semver/issues/145
+	kata_version=$(get_kata_version "${branch}")
 	kata_version=${kata_version/-/\~}
 	cat > "$versions_txt" <<EOT
 # This is a generated file from ${script_name}
@@ -114,12 +127,14 @@ Options:
 -h, --help        Print this help.
 --compare         Only compare the kata version at branch <kata-branch> with the
                   one in ${versions_txt} and leave the file untouched.
+--head            Use <kata-branch>'s head to generate the versions file.
 EOT
 	exit "${exit_code}"
 }
 
 main() {
 	local compareOnly=
+	local use_head=
 
 	case "${1:-}" in
 		"-h"|"--help")
@@ -129,6 +144,10 @@ main() {
 			compareOnly=1
 			shift
 			;;
+		--head)
+			use_head=1
+			shift
+			;;
 		-*)
 			die "Invalid option: ${1:-}" "1"
 			shift
@@ -147,7 +166,8 @@ main() {
 		echo "${kata_version} in ${versions_txt} ${compare_result} the version at branch ${branch}"
 		return
 	fi
-	gen_version_file "${branch}"
+
+	gen_version_file "${branch}" "${use_head}"
 }
 
 main $@
diff --git a/release/publish-kata-image.sh b/release/publish-kata-image.sh
index 08405d1449..d372730616 100755
--- a/release/publish-kata-image.sh
+++ b/release/publish-kata-image.sh
@@ -59,7 +59,8 @@ main() {
 	kata_version=${1:-}
 	[ -n "${kata_version}" ] || usage "1"
 
-	agent_sha=$(get_kata_hash_from_tag "agent" "${kata_version}")
+	ref="refs/tags/${kata_version}^{}"
+	agent_sha=$(get_kata_hash "agent" "${ref}")
 	agent_sha=${agent_sha:0:${short_commit_length}}
 	image_tarball=$(find -name 'kata-containers-*.tar.gz' | grep "${kata_version}" | grep "${agent_sha}") ||
 		"${script_dir}/../obs-packaging/kata-containers-image/build_image.sh" -v "${kata_version}"
diff --git a/scripts/lib.sh b/scripts/lib.sh
index 1bd80453f4..46d928d2ba 100644
--- a/scripts/lib.sh
+++ b/scripts/lib.sh
@@ -96,11 +96,6 @@ build_hub() {
 	popd >>/dev/null
 }
 
-get_kata_hash_from_tag() {
-	repo=$1
-	git ls-remote --tags "https://github.com/${project}/${repo}.git" | grep "refs/tags/${kata_version}^{}" | awk '{print $1}'
-}
-
 arch_to_golang()
 {
 	local -r arch="$1"
@@ -113,3 +108,9 @@ arch_to_golang()
 		*) die "unsupported architecture: $arch";;
 	esac
 }
+
+get_kata_hash() {
+	repo=$1
+	ref=$2
+	git ls-remote --heads --tags "https://github.com/${project}/${repo}.git" | grep "${ref}" | awk '{print $1}'
+}