diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 33ac15c..c2620a0 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -20,11 +20,8 @@ BUILD_DIR=build
 # RPM build directory
 RPM_DIR=$(DIST_DIR)/rpm
 
-# Package version (strip 'v' prefix from git tags)
-# Set to explicit version for release builds, or use git-based version for dev builds
-PKG_VERSION ?= 1.0.0
-# Alternative git-based version (uncomment for dev builds):
-# PKG_VERSION=$(shell git describe --tags --always --dirty 2>/dev/null | sed 's/^v//')
+# Package version (extract default from spec file, can be overridden)
+PKG_VERSION ?= $(shell grep '^%define spec_version' packaging/rpm/ja4sentinel.spec | tail -1 | awk '{print $$3}')
 
 # Build flags
 VERSION=$(PKG_VERSION)
diff --git a/packaging/rpm/ja4sentinel.spec b/packaging/rpm/ja4sentinel.spec
index 7e3544f..a19083e 100644
--- a/packaging/rpm/ja4sentinel.spec
+++ b/packaging/rpm/ja4sentinel.spec
@@ -1,11 +1,18 @@
 Name:           ja4sentinel
-Version:        %{?build_version}%{!?build_version:1.0.0}
+Version:        %{spec_version}
 Release:        1%{?dist}
 Summary:        JA4 TLS fingerprinting daemon for network monitoring
 License:        MIT
 URL:            https://github.com/your-repo/ja4sentinel
 BuildArch:      x86_64
 
+# Override version from command line: rpmbuild --define "build_version X.Y.Z"
+%if %{defined build_version}
+%define spec_version %{build_version}
+%else
+%define spec_version 1.0.2
+%endif
+
 # Distribution-agnostic dependencies
 # systemd is available on all target distros (Rocky 8/9/10, AlmaLinux)
 Requires:       systemd