diff --git a/testdata/vfile1 b/testdata/vfile1
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0097a10
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/vfile1
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+0.1.2
+version 1.2.3
diff --git a/testdata/vfile2 b/testdata/vfile2
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..80e78df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/vfile2
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+1.3.5
diff --git a/versionfile.go b/versionfile.go
index b853a68..e8245b6 100644
--- a/versionfile.go
+++ b/versionfile.go
@@ -14,11 +14,15 @@ import (
 	"github.com/saracen/walker"
 )
 
-const versionRegBase = `(?i)((?:^|[^-_0-9a-zA-Z])version[^-_0-9a-zA-Z].{0,50})`
+const (
+	versionRegBase = `(?i)((?:^|[^-_0-9a-zA-Z])version[^-_0-9a-zA-Z].{0,50})`
+	semverRegBase  = `([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+)`
+)
 
 var (
-	versionReg = regexp.MustCompile(versionRegBase + `([0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+)`)
-	skipDirs   = map[string]bool{
+	versionReg         = regexp.MustCompile(versionRegBase + semverRegBase)
+	versionRegFallback = regexp.MustCompile(semverRegBase)
+	skipDirs           = map[string]bool{
 		// The "testdata" directory is ommited because of the test code for tagpr itself
 		"testdata":     true,
 		".git":         true,
@@ -190,11 +194,16 @@ func retrieveVersionFromFile(fpath string, vPrefix bool) (*semv, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	m := versionReg.FindSubmatch(bs)
-	if len(m) < 3 {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("no version detected from file: %s", fpath)
+	var ver string
+	if m := versionReg.FindSubmatch(bs); len(m) >= 3 {
+		ver = string(m[2])
+	} else {
+		m := versionRegFallback.FindSubmatch(bs)
+		if len(m) < 2 {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("no version detected from file: %s", fpath)
+		}
+		ver = string(m[1])
 	}
-	ver := string(m[2])
 	if vPrefix {
 		ver = "v" + ver
 	}
diff --git a/versionfile_test.go b/versionfile_test.go
index 59a88c4..aae52e7 100644
--- a/versionfile_test.go
+++ b/versionfile_test.go
@@ -35,6 +35,16 @@ func TestRetrieveVersionFile(t *testing.T) {
 	if ver.Naked() != version {
 		t.Errorf("detected: %s, expected: %s", ver.Naked(), version)
 	}
+
+	ver, err = retrieveVersionFromFile("testdata/vfile1", true)
+	if e, g := "v1.2.3", ver.Tag(); e != g {
+		t.Errorf("got: %s, expected: %s", g, e)
+	}
+
+	ver, err = retrieveVersionFromFile("testdata/vfile2", false)
+	if e, g := "1.3.5", ver.Tag(); e != g {
+		t.Errorf("got: %s, expected: %s", g, e)
+	}
 }
 
 func TestDetectVersionFile(t *testing.T) {