diff --git a/distribution/build.gradle b/distribution/build.gradle
index 0df2f24fef0..12bb17b807f 100644
--- a/distribution/build.gradle
+++ b/distribution/build.gradle
@@ -302,10 +302,6 @@ configure(subprojects.findAll { ['deb', 'rpm'].contains(it.name) }) {
       '''.stripIndent().replace('\n', ' ').trim()
     url 'https://www.elastic.co/'
 
-    /* The version of the package can't contain -SNAPSHOT so we rip it off if
-      we see it. We'll add it back on to the file name though. */
-    version project.version.replace('-SNAPSHOT', '')
-
     // signing setup
     if (project.hasProperty('signing.password') && System.getProperty('build.snapshot', 'true') == 'false') {
       signingKeyId = project.hasProperty('signing.keyId') ? project.property('signing.keyId') : 'D88E42B4'
diff --git a/distribution/deb/build.gradle b/distribution/deb/build.gradle
index a3d42a2c042..89d33597888 100644
--- a/distribution/deb/build.gradle
+++ b/distribution/deb/build.gradle
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ task buildDeb(type: Deb) {
   baseName 'elasticsearch' // this is what pom generation uses for artifactId
   // Follow elasticsearch's deb file naming convention
   archiveName "${packageName}-${project.version}.deb"
+  version = project.version
+
   packageGroup 'web'
   requires 'libc6'
   requires 'adduser'
diff --git a/distribution/rpm/build.gradle b/distribution/rpm/build.gradle
index 72ed58e52c3..185f558ff02 100644
--- a/distribution/rpm/build.gradle
+++ b/distribution/rpm/build.gradle
@@ -25,14 +25,8 @@ task buildRpm(type: Rpm) {
   packageGroup 'Application/Internet'
   prefix '/usr'
   packager 'Elasticsearch'
-  if (version.contains('~')) {
-    def tokenized = version.tokenize('~')
-    version tokenized[0]
-    release tokenized[1]
-  } else {
-    version version
-    release '1'
-  }
+  version = project.version.replace('-', '_')
+  release = '1'
   arch 'NOARCH'
   os 'LINUX'
   license '2009'