diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 5ec1ba1f..e05d2f7f 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -17,7 +17,10 @@ else
 	GORELEASER_ID = $(FLAVOR)
 endif
 
-VERSION := $(shell git describe --always)
+# Use GORELEASER_CURRENT_TAG if set (from GitHub Actions), otherwise derive from git
+ifeq ($(origin VERSION), undefined)
+VERSION := $(or $(GORELEASER_CURRENT_TAG),$(shell git describe --tags --always 2>/dev/null || echo "0.0.0-dev"))
+endif
 
 # Tooling versions
 GORELEASER_VERSION=v2.12.0
diff --git a/cloudsmith.sh b/cloudsmith.sh
index b93c531f..9fb4ae74 100644
--- a/cloudsmith.sh
+++ b/cloudsmith.sh
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+if [[ -z "${VERSION:-}" ]]; then
+  echo "Error: VERSION environment variable is not set. Please set VERSION (e.g., '1.2.3') before running cloudsmith.sh." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
 # Upload Platform.sh packages
 cloudsmith push deb platformsh/cli/any-distro/any-version dist/platformsh-cli_${VERSION}_linux_arm64.deb
 cloudsmith push deb platformsh/cli/any-distro/any-version dist/platformsh-cli_${VERSION}_linux_amd64.deb