diff --git a/contrib/_incr_version b/contrib/_incr_version
index 7059918d8..436faf148 100755
--- a/contrib/_incr_version
+++ b/contrib/_incr_version
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #!/bin/sh -eu
 old_version="$1"
 new_version="$2"
-sed -i meson.build -e "s/version: '$old_version'/version: '$new_version'/g"
+sed -i meson.build -e "s/^	version: .*#release_version/	version: '$new_version', #release_version/g"
 
 printf "Minimum wlroots version? "
 read wlr_version_min
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 70afcd504..230d6b1ed 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 project(
 	'sway',
 	'c',
-	version: '1.2',
+	version: '1.2', #release_version
 	license: 'MIT',
 	meson_version: '>=0.48.0',
 	default_options: [