diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index c177793..e26285f 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
-VERSION ?= dev
+VERSION ?= $(shell python3 -c "import json; print(json.load(open('.release-please-manifest.json'))['.'])" 2>/dev/null || echo dev)
 LDFLAGS := -s -w -X github.com/keeperhub/cli/internal/version.Version=$(VERSION)
 
-.PHONY: build test lint clean install
+.PHONY: build test lint clean install sync-version
 
-build:
+sync-version:
+	@cp .release-please-manifest.json internal/version/manifest.json
+
+build: sync-version
 	CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -ldflags="$(LDFLAGS)" -o bin/kh ./cmd/kh
 
 test:
@@ -15,5 +18,5 @@ lint:
 clean:
 	rm -rf bin/ dist/
 
-install:
+install: sync-version
 	CGO_ENABLED=0 go install -ldflags="$(LDFLAGS)" ./cmd/kh
diff --git a/cmd/update/update.go b/cmd/update/update.go
index ab8c838..13abe41 100644
--- a/cmd/update/update.go
+++ b/cmd/update/update.go
@@ -92,7 +92,13 @@ func runUpdate(f *cmdutil.Factory) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("checking for updates: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	if !found || latest.LessOrEqual(version.Version) {
+	if !found {
+		fmt.Fprintf(f.IOStreams.Out, "No release found.\n")
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	// "dev" means no version was injected via ldflags — always update.
+	if version.Version != "dev" && latest.LessOrEqual(version.Version) {
 		fmt.Fprintf(f.IOStreams.Out, "Already on latest version: %s\n", version.Version)
 		return nil
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/update/update_test.go b/cmd/update/update_test.go
index dd45db0..b8f5c16 100644
--- a/cmd/update/update_test.go
+++ b/cmd/update/update_test.go
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ func TestUpdateCmd_AlreadyOnLatest(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 
 	out := buf.String()
-	if !strings.Contains(out, "latest") {
-		t.Errorf("expected 'latest' in output, got: %q", out)
+	if !strings.Contains(out, "No release found") {
+		t.Errorf("expected 'No release found' in output, got: %q", out)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/internal/version/manifest.json b/internal/version/manifest.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0ee8c01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/version/manifest.json
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{
+  ".": "0.3.0"
+}
diff --git a/internal/version/version.go b/internal/version/version.go
index b2d615c..cba0ebf 100644
--- a/internal/version/version.go
+++ b/internal/version/version.go
@@ -1,5 +1,29 @@
 package version
 
+//go:generate cp ../../.release-please-manifest.json manifest.json
+
+import (
+	_ "embed"
+	"encoding/json"
+)
+
+//go:embed manifest.json
+var manifestBytes []byte
+
 // Version is the current build version. Overridden at build time via ldflags:
 // go build -ldflags "-X github.com/keeperhub/cli/internal/version.Version=1.0.0"
-var Version = "dev"
+var Version = ""
+
+func init() {
+	if Version != "" {
+		return
+	}
+	var manifest map[string]string
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(manifestBytes, &manifest); err == nil {
+		if v, ok := manifest["."]; ok {
+			Version = v
+			return
+		}
+	}
+	Version = "dev"
+}
diff --git a/release-please-config.json b/release-please-config.json
index 9899349..9328866 100644
--- a/release-please-config.json
+++ b/release-please-config.json
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@
   "release-type": "go",
   "changelog-path": "CHANGELOG.md",
   "packages": {
-    ".": {}
+    ".": {
+      "extra-files": [
+        "internal/version/manifest.json"
+      ]
+    }
   }
 }