diff --git a/examples/companion_radio/ui-new/UITask.cpp b/examples/companion_radio/ui-new/UITask.cpp
index f285cfe0..28b93626 100644
--- a/examples/companion_radio/ui-new/UITask.cpp
+++ b/examples/companion_radio/ui-new/UITask.cpp
@@ -54,9 +54,12 @@ public:
     strncpy(_version_info, MESHCORE_VERSION, sizeof(_version_info) - 1);
     _version_info[sizeof(_version_info) - 1] = '\0';
 
-    // Solo firmware version: strip commit hash suffix (v1.15-solo.1-abcdef -> v1.15)
+    // Solo firmware version: strip the commit-hash suffix build.sh always
+    // appends as the LAST dash-segment (v1.15-solo.1-abcdef -> v1.15-solo.1).
+    // Must be the last dash, not the first: a tag like v1.21-rc1 has a dash
+    // of its own before the commit hash gets appended.
     const char *ver = FIRMWARE_VERSION;
-    const char *dash = strchr(ver, '-');
+    const char *dash = strrchr(ver, '-');
     int plen = dash ? (int)(dash - ver) : (int)strlen(ver);
     if (plen >= (int)sizeof(_solo_ver)) plen = sizeof(_solo_ver) - 1;
     memcpy(_solo_ver, ver, plen);
diff --git a/examples/companion_radio/ui-orig/UITask.cpp b/examples/companion_radio/ui-orig/UITask.cpp
index f35985fa..eee990f0 100644
--- a/examples/companion_radio/ui-orig/UITask.cpp
+++ b/examples/companion_radio/ui-orig/UITask.cpp
@@ -43,10 +43,11 @@ void UITask::begin(DisplayDriver* display, SensorManager* sensors, NodePrefs* no
     _display->turnOn();
   }
 
-  // strip off dash and commit hash by changing dash to null terminator
-  // e.g: v1.2.3-abcdef -> v1.2.3
+  // strip off the commit-hash suffix build.sh always appends as the LAST
+  // dash-segment, e.g: v1.2.3-abcdef -> v1.2.3, v1.21-rc1-abcdef -> v1.21-rc1
+  // (must use the last dash, not the first, since a tag itself may contain one)
   char *version = strdup(FIRMWARE_VERSION);
-  char *dash = strchr(version, '-');
+  char *dash = strrchr(version, '-');
   if (dash) {
     *dash = 0;
   }
diff --git a/examples/companion_radio/ui-tiny/UITask.cpp b/examples/companion_radio/ui-tiny/UITask.cpp
index 0119475e..26445e73 100644
--- a/examples/companion_radio/ui-tiny/UITask.cpp
+++ b/examples/companion_radio/ui-tiny/UITask.cpp
@@ -39,10 +39,11 @@ class SplashScreen : public UIScreen {
 
 public:
   SplashScreen(UITask* task) : _task(task) {
-    // strip off dash and commit hash by changing dash to null terminator
-    // e.g: v1.2.3-abcdef -> v1.2.3
+    // strip off the commit-hash suffix build.sh always appends as the LAST
+    // dash-segment, e.g: v1.2.3-abcdef -> v1.2.3, v1.21-rc1-abcdef -> v1.21-rc1
+    // (must use the last dash, not the first, since a tag itself may contain one)
     const char *ver = FIRMWARE_VERSION;
-    const char *dash = strchr(ver, '-');
+    const char *dash = strrchr(ver, '-');
 
     int len = dash ? dash - ver : strlen(ver);
     if (len >= sizeof(_version_info)) len = sizeof(_version_info) - 1;