diff --git a/nix-meson-build-support/common/meson.build b/nix-meson-build-support/common/meson.build
index bc98abfd5..c76c2971c 100644
--- a/nix-meson-build-support/common/meson.build
+++ b/nix-meson-build-support/common/meson.build
@@ -34,4 +34,4 @@ if cxx.get_id() == 'clang'
 endif
 
 # Darwin ld doesn't like "X.Y.Zpre"
-nix_soversion = meson.project_version().replace('pre', '')
+nix_soversion = meson.project_version().split('pre')[0]