diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-please.yml b/.github/workflows/release-please.yml
index 3d3c0d1..68e5a7e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-please.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-please.yml
@@ -63,10 +63,11 @@ jobs:
           config-file: release-please-config.json
           manifest-file: .release-please-manifest.json
 
-  # After a release is published: update mix.exs to CalVer so the running app
-  # reports the date-based version while GitHub releases/tags stay semver.
+  # After a release is published: update mix.exs to "semver (calver)" so the
+  # running app displays both (e.g. "1.0.0 (2026-06-14)").
+  # Mix will warn that this isn't strict semver, which is fine for a Docker app.
   update-mix-version:
-    name: Update mix.exs to CalVer
+    name: Update mix.exs version string
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs: release-please
     if: needs.release-please.outputs.release_created == 'true'
@@ -79,18 +80,21 @@ jobs:
           ref: master
           token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
-      - name: Bump mix.exs version to today's CalVer
+      - name: Set combined version in mix.exs
         run: |
+          SEMVER=$(echo '${{ needs.release-please.outputs.tag_name }}' | sed 's/^v//')
           DATE=$(date +"%Y.%-m.%-d")
-          CURRENT=$(grep 'version: ' mix.exs | cut -d '"' -f2)
-          sed -i "s/version: \"$CURRENT\"/version: \"$DATE\"/" mix.exs
+          DISPLAY="${SEMVER} (${DATE})"
+          sed -i "s|^      version: \".*\",|      version: \"${DISPLAY}\",|" mix.exs
 
       - name: Commit and push
         run: |
+          SEMVER=$(echo '${{ needs.release-please.outputs.tag_name }}' | sed 's/^v//')
+          DATE=$(date +"%Y.%-m.%-d")
           git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
           git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
           git add mix.exs
-          git diff --cached --quiet || git commit -m "chore: update app version to $(date +"%Y.%-m.%-d") [skip ci]"
+          git diff --cached --quiet || git commit -m "chore: set app version to ${SEMVER} (${DATE}) [skip ci]"
           git push
 
   docker: