diff --git a/.github/workflows/publish-artifacts.yml b/.github/workflows/publish-artifacts.yml
index 9f5fd986380..d82663cf136 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/publish-artifacts.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-artifacts.yml
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@ jobs:
     # when in master repo, publish all tags and manual runs on main
     if: github.repository == 'com-lihaoyi/mill'
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-
+    env:
+      MILL_STABLE_VERSION: 1
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with: {fetch-depth: 0}
@@ -56,6 +57,7 @@ jobs:
     concurrency: publish-sonatype-${{ github.sha }}
 
     env:
+      MILL_STABLE_VERSION: 1
       MILL_SONATYPE_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.SONATYPE_USERNAME }}
       MILL_SONATYPE_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.SONATYPE_PASSWORD }}
       MILL_PGP_SECRET_BASE64: ${{ secrets.SONATYPE_PGP_SECRET }}
@@ -93,6 +95,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
 
     env:
+      MILL_STABLE_VERSION: 1
       REPO_ACCESS_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.REPO_ACCESS_TOKEN }}
 
     steps:
diff --git a/build.mill b/build.mill
index 7a1d32289b3..f114a1fe068 100644
--- a/build.mill
+++ b/build.mill
@@ -258,7 +258,7 @@ object Deps {
 
 def millVersion: T[String] = Task {
   if (Task.env.contains("MILL_STABLE_VERSION")) VcsVersion.calcVcsState(Task.log).format()
-  else "DEV"
+  else "SNAPSHOT"
 }
 
 def millLastTag: T[String] = Task {
@@ -405,11 +405,7 @@ trait MillPublishJavaModule extends MillJavaModule with PublishModule {
   }
 
   def artifactName = "mill-" + super.artifactName()
-  def publishVersion = Task {
-    val version = millVersion()
-    assert(version != "DEV")
-    version
-  }
+  def publishVersion = millVersion()
   def publishProperties = super.publishProperties() ++ Map(
     "info.releaseNotesURL" -> Settings.changelogUrl
   )