diff --git a/agent/Makefile b/agent/Makefile
index a0c2ad9a3b2..267a40d7bfb 100644
--- a/agent/Makefile
+++ b/agent/Makefile
@@ -128,21 +128,21 @@ package-ee: packaging/LICENSE buildx
 
 .PHONY: release
 release: export GORELEASER_CURRENT_TAG := $(VERSION_TAG)
-release: export GORELEASER_PREVIOUS_TAG := $(shell git tag --sort=-creatordate | grep -E '^[0-9.]+$$' | grep "$(VERSION_TAG)" -A1 | sed -n '2 p')
+release: export GORELEASER_PREVIOUS_TAG := $(shell git tag --sort=-creatordate | grep -E '^v?[0-9.]+$$' | grep "$(VERSION_TAG)" -A1 | sed -n '2 p')
 release: packaging/LICENSE buildx
 	goreleaser --rm-dist
 	make publish-nvcr
 
 .PHONY: release-dryrun
 release-dryrun: export GORELEASER_CURRENT_TAG := $(VERSION_TAG)
-release-dryrun: export GORELEASER_PREVIOUS_TAG := $(shell git tag --sort=-creatordate | grep -E '^[0-9.]+$$' | grep "$(VERSION_TAG)" -A1 | sed -n '2 p')
+release-dryrun: export GORELEASER_PREVIOUS_TAG := $(shell git tag --sort=-creatordate | grep -E '^v?[0-9.]+$$' | grep "$(VERSION_TAG)" -A1 | sed -n '2 p')
 # We intentionally do not invoke `make publish-nvcr(-dryrun)` here.
 release-dryrun: packaging/LICENSE buildx
 	goreleaser --rm-dist -f ./.goreleaser_dryrun.yml
 
 .PHONY: release-ee
 release-ee: export GORELEASER_CURRENT_TAG := $(VERSION_TAG)-ee
-release-ee: export GORELEASER_PREVIOUS_TAG := $(shell git tag --sort=-creatordate | grep -E '^[0-9.]+-ee$$' | grep "$(VERSION_TAG)-ee" -A1 | sed -n '2 p')
+release-ee: export GORELEASER_PREVIOUS_TAG := $(shell git tag --sort=-creatordate | grep -E '^v?[0-9.]+-ee$$' | grep "$(VERSION_TAG)-ee" -A1 | sed -n '2 p')
 release-ee: packaging/LICENSE buildx
 	goreleaser --rm-dist -f ./.goreleaser_ee.yml
 
diff --git a/helm/Makefile b/helm/Makefile
index 87b97a8f44f..c1d5e8fff02 100644
--- a/helm/Makefile
+++ b/helm/Makefile
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ clean:
 
 .PHONY: release-gh
 release-gh: export GORELEASER_CURRENT_TAG := $(VERSION_TAG)
-release-gh: export GORELEASER_PREVIOUS_TAG := $(shell git tag --sort=-creatordate | grep -E '^[0-9.]+$$' | grep "$(VERSION_TAG)" -A1 | sed -n '2 p')
+release-gh: export GORELEASER_PREVIOUS_TAG := $(shell git tag --sort=-creatordate | grep -E '^v?[0-9.]+$$' | grep "$(VERSION_TAG)" -A1 | sed -n '2 p')
 release-gh:
 	go install github.com/goreleaser/goreleaser@v1.14.1
 	git clean -df
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ release-gh-rc: export GORELEASER_CURRENT_TAG := $(VERSION_TAG)
 # The following line lists all tags by creation date, finds the current tag and
 # the next line after, then prints that second line, which should be the most
 # recent previous tag. This works if the previous tag is both a minor release,
-# or an rc release.
+# or an rc release. Also, this is a separate make target because it makes it
+# easier to compute tag diffs for release notes.
 release-gh-rc: export GORELEASER_PREVIOUS_TAG := $(shell git tag --sort=-creatordate | grep "$(VERSION_TAG)" -A1 | sed -n '2 p')
 release-gh-rc:
 	go install github.com/goreleaser/goreleaser@v1.14.1
@@ -40,7 +41,7 @@ release-gh-rc:
 
 .PHONY: release-gh-dryrun
 release-gh-dryrun: export GORELEASER_CURRENT_TAG := $(VERSION_TAG)
-release-gh-dryrun: export GORELEASER_PREVIOUS_TAG := $(shell git tag --sort=-creatordate | grep -E '^[0-9.]+$$' | grep "$(VERSION_TAG)" -A1 | sed -n '2 p')
+release-gh-dryrun: export GORELEASER_PREVIOUS_TAG := $(shell git tag --sort=-creatordate | grep -E '^v?[0-9.]+$$' | grep "$(VERSION_TAG)" -A1 | sed -n '2 p')
 release-gh-dryrun:
 	go install github.com/goreleaser/goreleaser@v1.14.1
 	git clean -df
@@ -48,7 +49,7 @@ release-gh-dryrun:
 
 .PHONY: release-gh-ee
 release-gh-ee: export GORELEASER_CURRENT_TAG := $(VERSION_TAG)-ee
-release-gh-ee: export GORELEASER_PREVIOUS_TAG := $(shell git tag --sort=-creatordate | grep -E '^[0-9.]+-ee$$' | grep "$(VERSION_TAG)-ee" -A1 | sed -n '2 p')
+release-gh-ee: export GORELEASER_PREVIOUS_TAG := $(shell git tag --sort=-creatordate | grep -E '^v?[0-9.]+-ee$$' | grep "$(VERSION_TAG)-ee" -A1 | sed -n '2 p')
 release-gh-ee:
 	go install github.com/goreleaser/goreleaser@v1.14.1
 	git clean -df
diff --git a/master/Makefile b/master/Makefile
index 11616bec416..096575b7f73 100644
--- a/master/Makefile
+++ b/master/Makefile
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ package-small: gen buildx-small
 release: export DET_SEGMENT_MASTER_KEY ?=
 release: export DET_SEGMENT_WEBUI_KEY ?=
 release: export GORELEASER_CURRENT_TAG := $(VERSION_TAG)
-release: export GORELEASER_PREVIOUS_TAG := $(shell git tag --sort=-creatordate | grep -E '^[0-9.]+$$' | grep "$(VERSION_TAG)" -A1 | sed -n '2 p')
+release: export GORELEASER_PREVIOUS_TAG := $(shell git tag --sort=-creatordate | grep -E '^v?[0-9.]+$$' | grep "$(VERSION_TAG)" -A1 | sed -n '2 p')
 release: gen buildx
 	$(GORELEASER) --rm-dist
 	make publish-nvcr
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ release: gen buildx
 release-dryrun: export DET_SEGMENT_MASTER_KEY ?=
 release-dryrun: export DET_SEGMENT_WEBUI_KEY ?=
 release-dryrun: export GORELEASER_CURRENT_TAG := $(VERSION_TAG)
-release-dryrun: export GORELEASER_PREVIOUS_TAG := $(shell git tag --sort=-creatordate | grep -E '^[0-9.]+$$' | grep "$(VERSION_TAG)" -A1 | sed -n '2 p')
+release-dryrun: export GORELEASER_PREVIOUS_TAG := $(shell git tag --sort=-creatordate | grep -E '^v?[0-9.]+$$' | grep "$(VERSION_TAG)" -A1 | sed -n '2 p')
 # We intentionally do not invoke `make publish-nvcr(-dryrun)` here.
 release-dryrun: gen buildx
 	$(GORELEASER) --rm-dist -f ./.goreleaser_dryrun.yml
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ release-ee: export DET_SEGMENT_WEBUI_KEY ?=
 release-ee: export DET_EE_LICENSE_KEY = $(shell cat ../license.txt)
 release-ee: export DET_EE_PUBLIC_KEY = $(shell cat ../public.txt)
 release-ee: export GORELEASER_CURRENT_TAG := $(VERSION)-ee
-release-ee: export GORELEASER_PREVIOUS_TAG := $(shell git tag --sort=-creatordate | grep -E '^[0-9.]+-ee$$' | grep "$(VERSION_TAG)-ee" -A1 | sed -n '2 p')
+release-ee: export GORELEASER_PREVIOUS_TAG := $(shell git tag --sort=-creatordate | grep -E '^v?[0-9.]+-ee$$' | grep "$(VERSION_TAG)-ee" -A1 | sed -n '2 p')
 release-ee: gen buildx
 	$(GORELEASER) --rm-dist -f ./.goreleaser_ee.yml