diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-amd64.yaml b/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-amd64.yaml
index f4e761b1bf..f5b25ed978 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-amd64.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-amd64.yaml
@@ -343,6 +343,8 @@ jobs:
       - name: merge-artifacts
         run: |
           ./tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-merge-builds.sh kata-artifacts versions.yaml
+        env:
+          RELEASE: ${{ inputs.stage == 'release' && 'yes' || 'no' }}
       - name: store-artifacts
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@ea165f8d65b6e75b540449e92b4886f43607fa02 # v4.6.2
         with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-arm64.yaml b/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-arm64.yaml
index 58609159ad..fc9376c935 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-arm64.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-arm64.yaml
@@ -313,6 +313,8 @@ jobs:
       - name: merge-artifacts
         run: |
           ./tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-merge-builds.sh kata-artifacts versions.yaml
+        env:
+          RELEASE: ${{ inputs.stage == 'release' && 'yes' || 'no' }}
       - name: store-artifacts
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@ea165f8d65b6e75b540449e92b4886f43607fa02 # v4.6.2
         with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-ppc64le.yaml b/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-ppc64le.yaml
index 2f4be990f8..bfe1e9aa53 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-ppc64le.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-ppc64le.yaml
@@ -256,6 +256,8 @@ jobs:
       - name: merge-artifacts
         run: |
           ./tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-merge-builds.sh kata-artifacts versions.yaml
+        env:
+          RELEASE: ${{ inputs.stage == 'release' && 'yes' || 'no' }}
       - name: store-artifacts
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@ea165f8d65b6e75b540449e92b4886f43607fa02 # v4.6.2
         with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-s390x.yaml b/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-s390x.yaml
index ac7220aaaa..caa905f303 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-s390x.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-kata-static-tarball-s390x.yaml
@@ -342,6 +342,8 @@ jobs:
       - name: merge-artifacts
         run: |
           ./tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-merge-builds.sh kata-artifacts versions.yaml
+        env:
+          RELEASE: ${{ inputs.stage == 'release' && 'yes' || 'no' }}
       - name: store-artifacts
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@ea165f8d65b6e75b540449e92b4886f43607fa02 # v4.6.2
         with:
diff --git a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-merge-builds.sh b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-merge-builds.sh
index 4e30b88937..1a0944a6d4 100755
--- a/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-merge-builds.sh
+++ b/tools/packaging/kata-deploy/local-build/kata-deploy-merge-builds.sh
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@ set -o nounset
 set -o pipefail
 set -o errtrace
 
+this_script_dir="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+repo_root_dir="$(cd "${this_script_dir}/../../../../" && pwd)"
+
 kata_build_dir=${1:-build}
 kata_versions_yaml_file=${2:-""}
 
@@ -32,7 +35,13 @@ pushd ${tarball_content_dir}
 	shim_path=$(find . -name ${shim} | sort | head -1)
 	prefix=${shim_path%"bin/${shim}"}
 
-	echo "$(git describe --tags)" > ${prefix}/VERSION
+	if [[ "${RELEASE:-no}" == "yes" ]] && [[ -f "${repo_root_dir}/VERSION" ]]; then
+		# In this case the tag was not published yet,
+		# thus we need to rely on the VERSION file.
+		cp "${repo_root_dir}/VERSION" "${prefix}/"
+	else
+		echo "$(git describe --tags)" > "${prefix}/VERSION"
+	fi
 	[[ -n "${kata_versions_yaml_file}" ]] && cp ${kata_versions_yaml_file_path} ${prefix}/
 popd