diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index d76079329b..fd095472c0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -190,10 +190,11 @@ jobs:
       - name: set package version
         shell: bash
         run: |
-          current_date=$(date +%Y.%m)
+          release_year=$(grep 'release-year:' release-cycle-info | awk '{print $2}')
+          release_month=$(grep 'release-month:' release-cycle-info | awk '{print $2}')
           release_cycle=$(grep 'release-cycle:' release-cycle-info | awk '{print $2}')
           release_cycle_counter=$(grep 'release-cycle-counter:' release-cycle-info | awk '{print $2}')
-          version="$current_date.$release_cycle.$release_cycle_counter"
+          version="$release_year.$release_month.$release_cycle.$release_cycle_counter"
           echo "PACKAGE_VERSION=$version" >> $GITHUB_ENV
 
       - name: package release artifacts
diff --git a/Justfile b/Justfile
index d52041e73f..8e260b9804 100644
--- a/Justfile
+++ b/Justfile
@@ -374,10 +374,11 @@ package-arch arch:
   if [[ -n $PACKAGE_VERSION ]]; then
     version="$PACKAGE_VERSION"
   else
-    current_date=$(date +%Y.%m)
+    release_year=$(grep 'release-year:' release-cycle-info | awk '{print $2}')
+    release_month=$(grep 'release-month:' release-cycle-info | awk '{print $2}')
     release_cycle=$(grep 'release-cycle:' release-cycle-info | awk '{print $2}')
     release_cycle_counter=$(grep 'release-cycle-counter:' release-cycle-info | awk '{print $2}')
-    version="$current_date.$release_cycle.$release_cycle_counter"
+    version="$release_year.$release_month.$release_cycle.$release_cycle_counter"
   fi
   architecture="{{arch}}"
   zip_filename="${version}.autonomi.${architecture}.zip"
diff --git a/release-cycle-info b/release-cycle-info
index 2824e15b91..38bd3823ed 100644
--- a/release-cycle-info
+++ b/release-cycle-info
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+# The reason for having the year and month here rather than reading it from the OS is because we
+# have two cycles per month, but the RC can be built for the first cycle of the following month, in
+# the current month. So for example, you could build the first September RC before the month of
+# August ends, hence reading the current date from the OS would give you 08 rather than 09. The same
+# thing applies to the year. So, it's simple enough to just define them here.
+#
 # The release-cycle is the cycle within the current month. It will be 1 or 2. It is set at the
 # beginning of the cycle.
 #
@@ -6,5 +12,7 @@
 #
 # Both of these numbers are used in the packaged version number, which is a collective version
 # number for all the released binaries.
+release-year: 2024
+release-month: 08
 release-cycle: 2
 release-cycle-counter: 4