diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish.yml b/.github/workflows/publish.yml
index 95ddd10..dbd996d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish.yml
@@ -19,6 +19,12 @@ jobs:
         with:
           node-version: "24"
           registry-url: "https://registry.npmjs.org"
+      - name: Set version from tag
+        run: |
+          VERSION=${GITHUB_REF#refs/tags/v}
+          npm version "$VERSION" --no-git-tag-version
+          npm run sync-version
+
       - run: npm ci
       - run: npm run build --if-present
       - run: npm test
@@ -33,10 +39,5 @@ jobs:
       - name: Authenticate to MCP Registry
         run: ./mcp-publisher login github-oidc
 
-      - name: Set version in server.json
-        run: |
-          VERSION=${GITHUB_REF#refs/tags/v}
-          jq --arg v "$VERSION" '.version = $v' server.json > server.tmp && mv server.tmp server.json
-
       - name: Publish server to MCP Registry
         run: ./mcp-publisher publish