diff --git a/packaging/assemble.mjs b/packaging/assemble.mjs
index c321dff..7f3b544 100644
--- a/packaging/assemble.mjs
+++ b/packaging/assemble.mjs
@@ -6,11 +6,17 @@ import process from "node:process";
 import { binaryName, npmPackage, rustPackage, targets } from "./targets.mjs";
 
 const root = resolve(import.meta.dirname, "..");
+const stableVersion = /^\d+\.\d+\.\d+$/;
+const canaryVersion = /^0\.0\.0-canary\.\d{14}\.[0-9a-f]{12}$/;
+
+export function isPackageVersion(value) {
+  return stableVersion.test(value) || canaryVersion.test(value);
+}
 
 function parseArgs(argv) {
   const values = {};
   for (let index = 0; index < argv.length; index += 2) values[argv[index]?.replace(/^--/, "")] = argv[index + 1];
-  if (!/^\d+\.\d+\.\d+$/.test(values.version ?? "")) throw new Error("--version must be semver without a leading v");
+  if (!isPackageVersion(values.version ?? "")) throw new Error("--version must be stable semver or a Yield canary version");
   if (!values.binaries || !values.output) throw new Error("--binaries and --output are required");
   return { version: values.version, binaries: resolve(values.binaries), output: resolve(values.output) };
 }
diff --git a/packaging/assemble.test.mjs b/packaging/assemble.test.mjs
index d411cc7..5ad26cb 100644
--- a/packaging/assemble.test.mjs
+++ b/packaging/assemble.test.mjs
@@ -3,9 +3,17 @@ import assert from "node:assert/strict";
 import { mkdtemp, mkdir, readFile, rm, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
 import { join } from "node:path";
 import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
-import { assemble } from "./assemble.mjs";
+import { assemble, isPackageVersion } from "./assemble.mjs";
 import { binaryName, npmPackage, targets } from "./targets.mjs";
 
+test("accepts stable and exact Yield canary versions", () => {
+  assert.equal(isPackageVersion("1.2.3"), true);
+  assert.equal(isPackageVersion("0.0.0-canary.20260807104031.b081bae38282"), true);
+  assert.equal(isPackageVersion("1.2.3-beta.1"), false);
+  assert.equal(isPackageVersion("0.0.0-canary.latest.b081bae38282"), false);
+  assert.equal(isPackageVersion("v1.2.3"), false);
+});
+
 test("assembles one public npm package and six matching runtimes", async (t) => {
   const root = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "yield-assemble-"));
   t.after(() => rm(root, { recursive: true, force: true }));