diff --git a/pkg/manifests/releases/read.go b/pkg/manifests/releases/read.go
index 97ca1c3c24c8..11408e1f2a39 100644
--- a/pkg/manifests/releases/read.go
+++ b/pkg/manifests/releases/read.go
@@ -90,23 +90,24 @@ func ReleaseForVersion(releases *releasev1.Release, version string) (*releasev1.
 			return &release, nil
 		}
 
+		// If we are looking for the latest pre-release, we need to compare the build metadata
+		// Else we continue to look for an exact match.
+		if !wantLatestPreRelease {
+			continue
+		}
+
 		releaseVersion, err := semver.New(release.Version)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid version for release %d: %v", release.Number, err)
 		}
 
-		if semVer.SamePrerelease(releaseVersion) {
-			if wantLatestPreRelease {
-				// If we are looking for the latest pre-release, we need to compare the build metadata
-				// to find the latest one. CompareBuildMetadata will compare the build identifiers
-				// in order. For example: v0.19.0-dev+build.10 > v0.19.0-dev+build.9
-				if latestPreReleaseVersion == nil || releaseVersion.CompareBuildMetadata(latestPreReleaseVersion) > 0 {
-					latestPreRelease = &release
-					latestPreReleaseVersion = releaseVersion
-				}
-			} else {
-				return &release, nil
-			}
+		if semVer.SamePrerelease(releaseVersion) &&
+			(latestPreReleaseVersion == nil || releaseVersion.CompareBuildMetadata(latestPreReleaseVersion) > 0) {
+			// If we are looking for the latest pre-release, we need to compare the build metadata
+			// to find the latest one. CompareBuildMetadata will compare the build identifiers
+			// in order. For example: v0.19.0-dev+build.10 > v0.19.0-dev+build.9
+			latestPreRelease = &release
+			latestPreReleaseVersion = releaseVersion
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/manifests/releases/read_test.go b/pkg/manifests/releases/read_test.go
index 0a47666a2738..abb477f61500 100644
--- a/pkg/manifests/releases/read_test.go
+++ b/pkg/manifests/releases/read_test.go
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ func TestReleaseForVersionSuccess(t *testing.T) {
 			want:    &releasev1.EksARelease{Version: "v0.0.1-alpha", Number: 3},
 		},
 		{
-			name: "multiple releases same patch, same prerelease, different build metadata",
+			name: "version doesn't exist",
 			releases: &releasev1.Release{
 				Spec: releasev1.ReleaseSpec{
 					Releases: []releasev1.EksARelease{
@@ -102,38 +102,39 @@ func TestReleaseForVersionSuccess(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 				},
 			},
-			version: "v0.0.1-alpha",
-			want:    &releasev1.EksARelease{Version: "v0.0.1-alpha+werwe", Number: 1},
+			version: "v0.0.2-alpha",
+			want:    nil,
 		},
 		{
-			name: "version doesn't exist",
+			name: "want latest prerelease",
 			releases: &releasev1.Release{
 				Spec: releasev1.ReleaseSpec{
 					Releases: []releasev1.EksARelease{
-						{Version: "v0.0.1-alpha+werwe", Number: 1},
-						{Version: "v0.0.1-alpha+f4fe", Number: 2},
-						{Version: "v0.0.1-alpha+f43fs", Number: 3},
-						{Version: "v0.0.1-alpha+f234f", Number: 4},
+						{Version: "v0.0.1-alpha+build.3", Number: 1},
+						{Version: "v0.0.1-alpha+build.1", Number: 2},
+						{Version: "v0.0.1-alpha+build.10", Number: 3},
+						{Version: "v0.0.1-alpha+build.9", Number: 4},
 					},
 				},
 			},
-			version: "v0.0.2-alpha",
-			want:    nil,
+			version: "v0.0.1-alpha+latest",
+			want:    &releasev1.EksARelease{Version: "v0.0.1-alpha+build.10", Number: 3},
 		},
 		{
-			name: "want latest prerelease",
+			name: "want exact match with versions in same pre-release",
 			releases: &releasev1.Release{
 				Spec: releasev1.ReleaseSpec{
 					Releases: []releasev1.EksARelease{
 						{Version: "v0.0.1-alpha+build.3", Number: 1},
 						{Version: "v0.0.1-alpha+build.1", Number: 2},
 						{Version: "v0.0.1-alpha+build.10", Number: 3},
-						{Version: "v0.0.1-alpha+build.9", Number: 4},
+						{Version: "v0.0.1-alpha+build.4", Number: 4},
+						{Version: "v0.0.1-alpha+build.9", Number: 5},
 					},
 				},
 			},
-			version: "v0.0.1-alpha+latest",
-			want:    &releasev1.EksARelease{Version: "v0.0.1-alpha+build.10", Number: 3},
+			version: "v0.0.1-alpha+build.4",
+			want:    &releasev1.EksARelease{Version: "v0.0.1-alpha+build.4", Number: 4},
 		},
 	}
 	for _, tt := range tests {
@@ -166,7 +167,9 @@ func TestReleaseForVersionError(t *testing.T) {
 					},
 				},
 			},
-			version: "1.1.1",
+			// We need to ask fo the latest pre-release if we want to trigger
+			// the version parsing
+			version: "1.1.1-dev+latest",
 			want:    "invalid version for release 2",
 		},
 	}