diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 707c4422..2d5d1dfe 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ OUTDIR=${ROOTDIR}/_output
 TARGET_ARCHS ?= amd64 arm64 s390x ppc64le
 
 # Identifies the current build.
-VERSION ?= v1.45.0-SNAPSHOT
+VERSION ?= v1.45.0
 COMMIT_HASH ?= $(shell git rev-parse HEAD)
 
 # Identifies the Kiali operator container image that will be built