diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 7e892af48..2bec7af8d 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -96,8 +96,8 @@ dependencies = [
  "git2",
  "glob",
  "oci-spec",
+ "regex",
  "rstest",
- "semver",
  "serde",
  "serde_json",
  "snafu",
@@ -1142,10 +1142,6 @@ name = "semver"
 version = "1.0.28"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "8a7852d02fc848982e0c167ef163aaff9cd91dc640ba85e263cb1ce46fae51cd"
-dependencies = [
- "serde",
- "serde_core",
-]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "serde"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 8d5d2c086..16cccf679 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ git2 = "0.20.1"
 glob = "0.3.2"
 oci-spec = "0.9.0"
 rstest = "0.26.1"
-semver = { version = "1.0.26", features = ["serde"] }
+regex = "1.12.3"
 serde = { version = "1.0.217", features = ["derive"] }
 serde_json = "1.0.140"
 snafu = "0.9.0"
diff --git a/rust/boil/Cargo.toml b/rust/boil/Cargo.toml
index 1f0465e49..3f6e750c1 100644
--- a/rust/boil/Cargo.toml
+++ b/rust/boil/Cargo.toml
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ clap_complete_nushell.workspace = true
 git2.workspace = true
 glob.workspace = true
 oci-spec.workspace = true
-semver.workspace = true
+regex.workspace = true
 serde.workspace = true
 serde_json.workspace = true
 snafu.workspace = true
diff --git a/rust/boil/src/cli/build.rs b/rust/boil/src/cli/build.rs
index 539440a09..2c7854485 100644
--- a/rust/boil/src/cli/build.rs
+++ b/rust/boil/src/cli/build.rs
@@ -2,10 +2,11 @@ use std::{
     fmt::{Debug, Display},
     path::PathBuf,
     str::FromStr,
+    sync::LazyLock,
 };
 
 use clap::{Args, ValueHint, value_parser};
-use semver::Version;
+use regex::Regex;
 use snafu::{ResultExt, Snafu, ensure};
 use strum::EnumDiscriminants;
 use url::Host;
@@ -30,7 +31,7 @@ pub struct BuildArguments {
         default_value_t = Self::default_image_version(),
         help_heading = "Image Options"
     )]
-    pub image_version: Version,
+    pub image_version: String,
 
     /// Target platform of the image.
     #[arg(
@@ -129,16 +130,24 @@ pub struct BuildArguments {
     pub rest: Vec<String>,
 }
 
+// This is derived from the general rule where the length of the tag can be up to 128 chars
+// See: https://github.com/opencontainers/distribution-spec/blob/main/spec.md
+// But that checking needs to be at a higher layer.
+static VALID_IMAGE_TAG: LazyLock<Regex> =
+    LazyLock::new(|| Regex::new(r"^[a-zA-Z0-9_][a-zA-Z0-9_.-]+$").expect("regex is valid"));
+
 impl BuildArguments {
-    fn parse_image_version(input: &str) -> Result<Version, ParseImageVersionError> {
-        let version = Version::from_str(input).context(ParseVersionSnafu)?;
-        ensure!(version.build.is_empty(), ContainsBuildMetadataSnafu);
+    /// Ensure that the given version will be valid for use in the image tag
+    fn parse_image_version(version: &str) -> Result<String, ParseImageVersionError> {
+        if !VALID_IMAGE_TAG.is_match(version) {
+            return ParseVersionSnafu { version }.fail();
+        }
 
-        Ok(version)
+        Ok(version.to_owned())
     }
 
-    fn default_image_version() -> Version {
-        "0.0.0-dev".parse().expect("must be a valid SemVer")
+    fn default_image_version() -> String {
+        "0.0.0-dev".to_owned()
     }
 
     fn default_registry() -> HostPort {
@@ -160,11 +169,8 @@ impl BuildArguments {
 
 #[derive(Debug, Snafu)]
 pub enum ParseImageVersionError {
-    #[snafu(display("failed to parse semantic version"))]
-    ParseVersion { source: semver::Error },
-
-    #[snafu(display("semantic version must not contain build metadata"))]
-    ContainsBuildMetadata,
+    #[snafu(display("invalid image tag characters for {version:?}"))]
+    ParseVersion { version: String },
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, PartialEq, Snafu, EnumDiscriminants)]
diff --git a/rust/boil/src/cmd/build.rs b/rust/boil/src/cmd/build.rs
index adc1f970f..116ac40a1 100644
--- a/rust/boil/src/cmd/build.rs
+++ b/rust/boil/src/cmd/build.rs
@@ -45,12 +45,6 @@ pub enum Error {
 /// This is the `boil build` command handler function.
 pub fn run_command(args: Box<BuildArguments>, config: Config) -> Result<(), Error> {
     // TODO (@Techassi): Parse Dockerfile instead to build the target graph
-    // Validation
-    ensure!(
-        args.image_version.build.is_empty(),
-        InvalidImageVersionSnafu
-    );
-
     // Create bakefile
     let bakefile = Bakefile::from_cli_args(&args, config).context(CreateBakefileSnafu)?;
     let image_manifest_uris = bakefile.image_manifest_uris();
diff --git a/rust/boil/src/core/bakefile.rs b/rust/boil/src/core/bakefile.rs
index fa9b74c33..417fcef0c 100644
--- a/rust/boil/src/core/bakefile.rs
+++ b/rust/boil/src/core/bakefile.rs
@@ -11,13 +11,11 @@ use oci_spec::image::{
     ANNOTATION_AUTHORS, ANNOTATION_CREATED, ANNOTATION_DOCUMENTATION, ANNOTATION_LICENSES,
     ANNOTATION_REVISION, ANNOTATION_SOURCE, ANNOTATION_VENDOR, ANNOTATION_VERSION,
 };
-use semver::Version;
 use serde::Serialize;
 use snafu::{OptionExt, ResultExt, Snafu, ensure};
 use time::format_description::well_known::Rfc3339;
 
 use crate::{
-    VersionExt,
     cli::{self, HostPort},
     config::{self, Config, Metadata},
     constants::DOCKER_LABEL_BUILD_DATE,
@@ -294,7 +292,7 @@ impl Bakefile {
         let target = BakefileTarget::common(
             date_time,
             revision,
-            cli_args.image_version.base_prerelease(),
+            cli_args.image_version.clone(),
             container_build_args,
             user_container_build_args,
             metadata,
@@ -642,7 +640,7 @@ impl BakefileTarget {
     fn image_version_annotation(
         image_version: &str,
         vendor_tag_prefix: &str,
-        vendor_image_version: &Version,
+        vendor_image_version: &str,
     ) -> Vec<String> {
         let image_index_manifest_tag = utils::format_image_index_manifest_tag(
             image_version,
diff --git a/rust/boil/src/main.rs b/rust/boil/src/main.rs
index 20f5d53c4..fa767fd93 100644
--- a/rust/boil/src/main.rs
+++ b/rust/boil/src/main.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 use clap::Parser;
-use semver::Version;
 use snafu::{ResultExt, Snafu};
 
 use crate::{
@@ -46,39 +45,6 @@ impl<T> IfContext for T {
     }
 }
 
-pub trait VersionExt {
-    /// Returns the base of a [`Version`] as a string, eg. `1.2.3`.
-    fn base(&self) -> String;
-
-    /// Returns the base and prerelease of a [`Version`] as a string, eg. `1.2.3-rc.1`.
-    fn base_prerelease(&self) -> String;
-}
-
-impl VersionExt for Version {
-    fn base(&self) -> String {
-        let Self {
-            major,
-            minor,
-            patch,
-            ..
-        } = self;
-
-        format!("{major}.{minor}.{patch}")
-    }
-
-    fn base_prerelease(&self) -> String {
-        let mut base = self.base();
-
-        // Well, that was a big doozy, ruined the whole release...
-        if !self.pre.is_empty() {
-            base.push('-');
-            base.push_str(&self.pre);
-        }
-
-        base
-    }
-}
-
 #[derive(Debug, Snafu)]
 enum Error {
     #[snafu(display("failed to run build command"))]
diff --git a/rust/boil/src/utils.rs b/rust/boil/src/utils.rs
index 6a81ec954..6f214a9ca 100644
--- a/rust/boil/src/utils.rs
+++ b/rust/boil/src/utils.rs
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 use std::process::Command;
 
-use semver::Version;
-
 use crate::{cli::HostPort, core::platform::Architecture};
 
 /// Formats and returns the image repository URI, eg. `oci.stackable.tech/sdp/opa`.
@@ -22,7 +20,7 @@ pub fn format_image_manifest_uri(image_repository_uri: &str, image_manifest_tag:
 pub fn format_image_index_manifest_tag(
     image_version: &str,
     vendor_tag_prefix: &str,
-    vendor_image_version: &Version,
+    vendor_image_version: &str,
 ) -> String {
     format!("{image_version}-{vendor_tag_prefix}{vendor_image_version}")
 }
diff --git a/shell.nix b/shell.nix
index f467c334e..b8058d582 100644
--- a/shell.nix
+++ b/shell.nix
@@ -6,8 +6,7 @@
 
 pkgs.mkShell {
   packages = with pkgs; [
-    cargo
-    rustc
+    rustup
     nodejs
     zizmor
   ];