diff --git a/pkg/api/check_version.go b/pkg/api/check_version.go
index 4e4ed3fe71e..ca79170b44b 100644
--- a/pkg/api/check_version.go
+++ b/pkg/api/check_version.go
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import (
 
 //we use the github REST V3 API as no login is required
 const apiReleases string = "https://api.github.com/repos/stashapp/stash/releases"
+const apiTags string = "https://api.github.com/repos/stashapp/stash/tags"
 const apiAcceptHeader string = "application/vnd.github.v3+json"
 const developmentTag string = "latest_develop"
 
@@ -84,6 +85,50 @@ type githubAsset struct {
 	Browser_download_url string
 }
 
+type githubTagResponse struct {
+	Name        string
+	Zipball_url string
+	Tarball_url string
+	Commit      struct {
+		Sha string
+		Url string
+	}
+	Node_id string
+}
+
+func makeGithubRequest(url string, output interface{}) error {
+	client := &http.Client{
+		Timeout: 3 * time.Second,
+	}
+
+	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", url, nil)
+
+	req.Header.Add("Accept", apiAcceptHeader) // gh api recommendation , send header with api version
+	response, err := client.Do(req)
+
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("Github API request failed: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	if response.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
+		return fmt.Errorf("Github API request failed: %s", response.Status)
+	}
+
+	defer response.Body.Close()
+
+	data, err := ioutil.ReadAll(response.Body)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("Github API read response failed: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	err = json.Unmarshal(data, output)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("Unmarshalling Github API response failed: %s", err)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
 // GetLatestVersion gets latest version (git commit hash) from github API
 // If running a build from the "master" branch, then the latest full release
 // is used, otherwise it uses the release that is tagged with "latest_develop"
@@ -105,10 +150,6 @@ func GetLatestVersion(shortHash bool) (latestVersion string, latestRelease strin
 		usePreRelease = true
 	}
 
-	client := &http.Client{
-		Timeout: 3 * time.Second,
-	}
-
 	url := apiReleases
 	if !usePreRelease {
 		// just get the latest full release
@@ -117,38 +158,17 @@ func GetLatestVersion(shortHash bool) (latestVersion string, latestRelease strin
 		// get the release tagged with the development tag
 		url += "/tags/" + developmentTag
 	}
-	req, _ := http.NewRequest("GET", url, nil)
-
-	req.Header.Add("Accept", apiAcceptHeader) // gh api recommendation , send header with api version
-	response, err := client.Do(req)
 
 	release := githubReleasesResponse{}
+	err = makeGithubRequest(url, &release)
 
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("Github API request failed: %s", err)
-	}
-
-	if response.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
-		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("Github API request failed: %s", response.Status)
-	}
-
-	defer response.Body.Close()
-
-	data, err := ioutil.ReadAll(response.Body)
-	if err != nil {
-		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("Github API read response failed: %s", err)
-	}
-	err = json.Unmarshal(data, &release)
-	if err != nil {
-		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("Unmarshalling Github API response failed: %s", err)
+		return "", "", err
 	}
 
 	if release.Prerelease == usePreRelease {
-		if shortHash {
-			latestVersion = release.Target_commitish[0:7] //shorthash is first 7 digits of git commit hash
-		} else {
-			latestVersion = release.Target_commitish
-		}
+		latestVersion = getReleaseHash(release, shortHash, usePreRelease)
+
 		if wantedRelease != "" {
 			for _, asset := range release.Assets {
 				if asset.Name == wantedRelease {
@@ -165,6 +185,20 @@ func GetLatestVersion(shortHash bool) (latestVersion string, latestRelease strin
 	return latestVersion, latestRelease, nil
 }
 
+func getReleaseHash(release githubReleasesResponse, shortHash bool, usePreRelease bool) string {
+	// the /latest API call doesn't return the hash in target_commitish
+	// also add sanity check in case Target_commitish is not 40 characters
+	if !usePreRelease || len(release.Target_commitish) != 40 {
+		return getShaFromTags(shortHash, release.Tag_name)
+	}
+
+	if shortHash {
+		return release.Target_commitish[0:7] //shorthash is first 7 digits of git commit hash
+	}
+
+	return release.Target_commitish
+}
+
 func printLatestVersion() {
 	_, githash, _ = GetVersion()
 	latest, _, err := GetLatestVersion(true)
@@ -178,3 +212,31 @@ func printLatestVersion() {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+// get sha from the github api tags endpoint
+// returns the sha1 hash/shorthash or "" if something's wrong
+func getShaFromTags(shortHash bool, name string) string {
+	url := apiTags
+	tags := []githubTagResponse{}
+	err := makeGithubRequest(url, &tags)
+
+	if err != nil {
+		logger.Errorf("Github Tags Api %v", err)
+		return ""
+	}
+
+	for _, tag := range tags {
+		if tag.Name == name {
+			if len(tag.Commit.Sha) != 40 {
+				return ""
+			}
+			if shortHash {
+				return tag.Commit.Sha[0:7] //shorthash is first 7 digits of git commit hash
+			}
+
+			return tag.Commit.Sha
+		}
+	}
+
+	return ""
+}