diff --git a/cmd/init.go b/cmd/init.go
index 631bb667..6feb3a20 100644
--- a/cmd/init.go
+++ b/cmd/init.go
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ func init() {
 	initCmd.Flags().StringVarP(&initOptions.BlockchainNodeProvider, "blockchain-node", "n", "geth", fmt.Sprintf("Blockchain node type to use. Options are: %v", fftypes.FFEnumValues(types.BlockchainNodeProvider)))
 	initCmd.PersistentFlags().StringArrayVarP(&initOptions.TokenProviders, "token-providers", "t", []string{"erc20_erc721"}, fmt.Sprintf("Token providers to use. Options are: %v", fftypes.FFEnumValues(types.TokenProvider)))
 	initCmd.PersistentFlags().IntVarP(&initOptions.ExternalProcesses, "external", "e", 0, "Manage a number of FireFly core processes outside of the docker-compose stack - useful for development and debugging")
-	initCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&initOptions.FireFlyVersion, "release", "r", "latest", "Select the FireFly release version to use")
+	initCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&initOptions.FireFlyVersion, "release", "r", "latest", fmt.Sprintf("Select the FireFly release version to use. Options are: %v", fftypes.FFEnumValues(types.ReleaseChannelSelection)))
 	initCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&initOptions.ManifestPath, "manifest", "m", "", "Path to a manifest.json file containing the versions of each FireFly microservice to use. Overrides the --release flag.")
 	initCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&promptNames, "prompt-names", false, "Prompt for org and node names instead of using the defaults")
 	initCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&initOptions.PrometheusEnabled, "prometheus-enabled", false, "Enables Prometheus metrics exposition and aggregation to a shared Prometheus server")
diff --git a/internal/core/manifest.go b/internal/core/manifest.go
index 328cf58d..0a96fc44 100644
--- a/internal/core/manifest.go
+++ b/internal/core/manifest.go
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/hyperledger/firefly-common/pkg/fftypes"
 )
 
-func GetManifestForReleaseChannel(releaseChannel fftypes.FFEnum) (*types.VersionManifest, error) {
+func GetManifestForChannel(releaseChannel fftypes.FFEnum) (*types.VersionManifest, error) {
 	dockerTag := releaseChannel.String()
 	if releaseChannel == types.ReleaseChannelStable {
 		dockerTag = "latest"
@@ -40,23 +40,35 @@ func GetManifestForReleaseChannel(releaseChannel fftypes.FFEnum) (*types.Version
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	manifest, err := GetReleaseManifest(gitCommit)
+	sha, err := getSHA(constants.FireFlyCoreImageName, dockerTag)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	manifest, err := getManifest(gitCommit)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	if manifest.FireFly == nil {
+		// Fill in the FireFly version number
+		manifest.FireFly = &types.ManifestEntry{
+			Image: "ghcr.io/hyperledger/firefly",
+			Tag:   dockerTag,
+			SHA:   sha,
+		}
+	}
+
 	return manifest, nil
 }
 
-func GetReleaseManifest(version string) (*types.VersionManifest, error) {
-	manifest := &types.VersionManifest{}
-	if err := request("GET", fmt.Sprintf("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hyperledger/firefly/%s/manifest.json", version), nil, &manifest); err != nil {
+func GetManifestForRelease(version string) (*types.VersionManifest, error) {
+	sha, err := getSHA(constants.FireFlyCoreImageName, version)
+	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	imageName := fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", constants.FireFlyCoreImageName, version)
-
-	imageDigest, err := docker.GetImageDigest(imageName)
+	manifest, err := getManifest(version)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -66,13 +78,30 @@ func GetReleaseManifest(version string) (*types.VersionManifest, error) {
 		manifest.FireFly = &types.ManifestEntry{
 			Image: "ghcr.io/hyperledger/firefly",
 			Tag:   version,
-			SHA:   imageDigest[7:],
+			SHA:   sha,
 		}
 	}
 
 	return manifest, nil
 }
 
+func getManifest(version string) (*types.VersionManifest, error) {
+	manifest := &types.VersionManifest{}
+	if err := request("GET", fmt.Sprintf("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/hyperledger/firefly/%s/manifest.json", version), nil, &manifest); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return manifest, nil
+}
+
+func getSHA(imageName, imageTag string) (string, error) {
+	digest, err := docker.GetImageDigest(fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", imageName, imageTag))
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	} else {
+		return digest[7:], nil
+	}
+}
+
 func ReadManifestFile(p string) (*types.VersionManifest, error) {
 	d, err := ioutil.ReadFile(p)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/core/manifest_test.go b/internal/core/manifest_test.go
index 91f9671e..42424c7a 100644
--- a/internal/core/manifest_test.go
+++ b/internal/core/manifest_test.go
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 func TestGetFireFlyManifest(T *testing.T) {
-	manifest, err := GetReleaseManifest("main")
+	manifest, err := GetManifestForRelease("main")
 	assert.NoError(T, err)
 	assert.NotNil(T, manifest)
 	assert.NotNil(T, manifest.FireFly)
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ func TestGetFireFlyManifest(T *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestGetLatestReleaseManifest(T *testing.T) {
-	manifest, err := GetManifestForReleaseChannel(types.ReleaseChannelStable)
+	manifest, err := GetManifestForChannel(types.ReleaseChannelStable)
 	assert.NoError(T, err)
 	assert.NotNil(T, manifest)
 	assert.NotNil(T, manifest.FireFly)
diff --git a/internal/stacks/stack_manager.go b/internal/stacks/stack_manager.go
index 216c0298..a979884d 100644
--- a/internal/stacks/stack_manager.go
+++ b/internal/stacks/stack_manager.go
@@ -146,12 +146,12 @@ func (s *StackManager) InitStack(options *types.InitOptions) (err error) {
 	} else {
 		// Otherwise, fetch the manifest file from GitHub for the specified version
 		if options.FireFlyVersion == "" || strings.ToLower(options.FireFlyVersion) == "latest" {
-			manifest, err = core.GetManifestForReleaseChannel(fftypes.FFEnum(options.ReleaseChannel))
+			manifest, err = core.GetManifestForChannel(fftypes.FFEnum(options.ReleaseChannel))
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
 		} else {
-			manifest, err = core.GetReleaseManifest(options.FireFlyVersion)
+			manifest, err = core.GetManifestForRelease(options.FireFlyVersion)
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
diff --git a/pkg/types/options.go b/pkg/types/options.go
index 48d85675..49af5872 100644
--- a/pkg/types/options.go
+++ b/pkg/types/options.go
@@ -114,6 +114,7 @@ const ReleaseChannelSelection = "release_channel"
 
 var (
 	ReleaseChannelStable = fftypes.FFEnumValue(ReleaseChannelSelection, "stable")
+	ReleaseChannelHead   = fftypes.FFEnumValue(ReleaseChannelSelection, "head")
 	ReleaseChannelAlpha  = fftypes.FFEnumValue(ReleaseChannelSelection, "alpha")
 	ReleaseChannelBeta   = fftypes.FFEnumValue(ReleaseChannelSelection, "beta")
 	ReleaseChannelRC     = fftypes.FFEnumValue(ReleaseChannelSelection, "rc")