diff --git a/build/dependencies.yaml b/build/dependencies.yaml
index 0d059876e3c..11f3888d2cc 100644
--- a/build/dependencies.yaml
+++ b/build/dependencies.yaml
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ dependencies:
     version: 3.6
     refPaths:
     - path: build/pause/Makefile
-      match: TAG =
+      match: TAG\s*\?=
 
   - name: "k8s.gcr.io/pause: dependents"
     version: 3.5
diff --git a/build/pause/Makefile b/build/pause/Makefile
index 422c5e23949..f4c7e5d9a70 100644
--- a/build/pause/Makefile
+++ b/build/pause/Makefile
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 REGISTRY ?= staging-k8s.gcr.io
 IMAGE = $(REGISTRY)/pause
 
-TAG = 3.6
+TAG ?= 3.6
 REV = $(shell git describe --contains --always --match='v*')
 
 # Architectures supported: amd64, arm, arm64, ppc64le and s390x