diff --git a/pkgs/development/python-modules/spacy/default.nix b/pkgs/development/python-modules/spacy/default.nix
index 019b4f4fa41d..3f483ee89e33 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/python-modules/spacy/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/python-modules/spacy/default.nix
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ buildPythonPackage rec {
         ]
       }
 
-      nix-update python3Packages.spacy
+      nix-update python3Packages.spacy --version-regex 'release-v([0-9.]+)'
 
       # update spacy models as well
       echo | nix-shell maintainers/scripts/update.nix --argstr package python3Packages.spacy-models.en_core_web_sm