diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-vtk.yml b/.github/workflows/build-vtk.yml
index 1c7d7484c..616105437 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-vtk.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-vtk.yml
@@ -144,6 +144,12 @@ jobs:
               -DVTK_JPEG_ENABLE_SIMD=OFF
               -DPython3_EXECUTABLE="${python_exe}"
               -DPython3_FIND_STRATEGY=LOCATION
+              # CMake/vtkWheelPreparation.cmake defaults this to "dev0" and only
+              # skips it when $CI_COMMIT_TAG is set - upstream's own GitLab CI
+              # sets that for tag-triggered pipelines, but we build on GitHub
+              # Actions from the exact v9.7.0 tag with a clean tree, so without
+              # this override every wheel gets versioned 9.7.0.dev0 instead.
+              -DVTK_VERSION_SUFFIX=
             )
 
             case "${PYTHON_TAG}" in