diff --git a/src/Operations.jl b/src/Operations.jl
index da8c4027fa..20d2347a46 100644
--- a/src/Operations.jl
+++ b/src/Operations.jl
@@ -348,6 +348,9 @@ function collect_fixed!(ctx::Context, pkgs::Vector{PackageSpec}, names::Dict{UUI
     return fixed
 end
 
+# drops build detail in version but keeps the main prerelease context
+# i.e. dropbuild(v"2.0.1-rc1.21321") == v"2.0.1-rc1"
+dropbuild(v::VersionNumber) = VersionNumber(v.major, v.minor, v.patch, isempty(v.prerelease) ? () : (v.prerelease[1],))
 
 function project_compatibility(ctx::Context, name::String)
     return VersionSpec(Types.semver_spec(get(ctx.env.project.compat, name, ">= 0")))
@@ -357,11 +360,12 @@ end
 # looks at uuid, version, repo/path,
 # sets version to a VersionNumber
 # adds any other packages which may be in the dependency graph
-# all versioned packges should have a `tree_hash`
+# all versioned packages should have a `tree_hash`
 function resolve_versions!(ctx::Context, pkgs::Vector{PackageSpec})
     # compatibility
     if ctx.julia_version !== nothing
-        ctx.env.manifest.julia_version = ctx.julia_version
+        # only set the manifest julia_version if ctx.julia_version is not nothing
+        env.manifest.julia_version = dropbuild(VERSION)
         v = intersect(ctx.julia_version, project_compatibility(ctx, "julia"))
         if isempty(v)
             @warn "julia version requirement for project not satisfied" _module=nothing _file=nothing
diff --git a/test/manifest/formats/v2.0/Manifest.toml b/test/manifest/formats/v2.0/Manifest.toml
index 267a3eb3d4..de317b9dfe 100644
--- a/test/manifest/formats/v2.0/Manifest.toml
+++ b/test/manifest/formats/v2.0/Manifest.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # This file is machine-generated - editing it directly is not advised
 
-julia_version = "1.7.0-DEV.1199"
+julia_version = "1.7.0-DEV"
 manifest_format = "2.0"
 some_other_data = [1, 2, 3, 4]
 some_other_field = "other"
diff --git a/test/manifest/formats/v3.0_unknown/Manifest.toml b/test/manifest/formats/v3.0_unknown/Manifest.toml
index f7d11772fb..fe60b0a931 100644
--- a/test/manifest/formats/v3.0_unknown/Manifest.toml
+++ b/test/manifest/formats/v3.0_unknown/Manifest.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # This file is machine-generated - editing it directly is not advised
 
-julia_version = "1.7.0-DEV.1199"
+julia_version = "1.7.0-DEV"
 manifest_format = "3.0" # NOT ACTUALLY v3.0 format. Just here to test a warning!
 
 [[deps.Logging]]