diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 33e03fb561..8fad5c12bc 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ NPM_BIN ?= npm
 CHROMIUM_BIN=/tmp/chrome-linux/chrome
 GIT_BRANCH ?= $(shell git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
 MANAGEMENT_COMMAND ?= awx-manage
-VERSION := $(shell $(PYTHON) tools/scripts/scm_version.py)
+VERSION ?= $(shell $(PYTHON) tools/scripts/scm_version.py)
 
 # ansible-test requires semver compatable version, so we allow overrides to hack it
 COLLECTION_VERSION ?= $(shell $(PYTHON) tools/scripts/scm_version.py | cut -d . -f 1-3)