diff --git a/pkg/action/action.go b/pkg/action/action.go
index 9555006be..273c55012 100644
--- a/pkg/action/action.go
+++ b/pkg/action/action.go
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ func (cfg *Configuration) renderResources(ch *chart.Chart, values common.Values,
 
 	if ch.Metadata.KubeVersion != "" {
 		if !chartutil.IsCompatibleRange(ch.Metadata.KubeVersion, caps.KubeVersion.String()) {
-			return hs, b, "", fmt.Errorf("chart requires kubeVersion: %s which is incompatible with Kubernetes %s", ch.Metadata.KubeVersion, caps.KubeVersion.String())
+			return hs, b, "", fmt.Errorf("chart requires kubeVersion: %s which is incompatible with Kubernetes %s", ch.Metadata.KubeVersion, caps.KubeVersion.Version)
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/action/install_test.go b/pkg/action/install_test.go
index 9f04f40d4..374b318e1 100644
--- a/pkg/action/install_test.go
+++ b/pkg/action/install_test.go
@@ -572,7 +572,7 @@ func TestInstallRelease_KubeVersion(t *testing.T) {
 	vals = map[string]interface{}{}
 	_, err = instAction.Run(buildChart(withKube(">=99.0.0")), vals)
 	is.Error(err)
-	is.Contains(err.Error(), "chart requires kubeVersion")
+	is.Contains(err.Error(), "chart requires kubeVersion: >=99.0.0 which is incompatible with Kubernetes v1.20.")
 }
 
 func TestInstallRelease_Wait(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/pkg/chart/common/capabilities.go b/pkg/chart/common/capabilities.go
index 355c3978a..9953abaf5 100644
--- a/pkg/chart/common/capabilities.go
+++ b/pkg/chart/common/capabilities.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"slices"
 	"strconv"
+	"strings"
 
 	"k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes/scheme"
 
@@ -39,11 +40,13 @@ var (
 	DefaultVersionSet = allKnownVersions()
 
 	// DefaultCapabilities is the default set of capabilities.
+	version             = fmt.Sprintf("v%s.%s.0", k8sVersionMajor, k8sVersionMinor)
 	DefaultCapabilities = &Capabilities{
 		KubeVersion: KubeVersion{
-			Version: fmt.Sprintf("v%s.%s.0", k8sVersionMajor, k8sVersionMinor),
-			Major:   k8sVersionMajor,
-			Minor:   k8sVersionMinor,
+			Version:           version,
+			normalizedVersion: version,
+			Major:             k8sVersionMajor,
+			Minor:             k8sVersionMinor,
 		},
 		APIVersions: DefaultVersionSet,
 		HelmVersion: helmversion.Get(),
@@ -70,15 +73,22 @@ func (capabilities *Capabilities) Copy() *Capabilities {
 
 // KubeVersion is the Kubernetes version.
 type KubeVersion struct {
-	Version string // Kubernetes version
-	Major   string // Kubernetes major version
-	Minor   string // Kubernetes minor version
+	Version           string // Full version (e.g., v1.33.4-gke.1245000)
+	normalizedVersion string // Normalized for constraint checking (e.g., v1.33.4)
+	Major             string // Kubernetes major version
+	Minor             string // Kubernetes minor version
 }
 
-// String implements fmt.Stringer
-func (kv *KubeVersion) String() string { return kv.Version }
+// String implements fmt.Stringer.
+// Returns the normalized version used for constraint checking.
+func (kv *KubeVersion) String() string {
+	if kv.normalizedVersion != "" {
+		return kv.normalizedVersion
+	}
+	return kv.Version
+}
 
-// GitVersion returns the Kubernetes version string.
+// GitVersion returns the full Kubernetes version string.
 //
 // Deprecated: use KubeVersion.Version.
 func (kv *KubeVersion) GitVersion() string { return kv.Version }
@@ -91,10 +101,21 @@ func ParseKubeVersion(version string) (*KubeVersion, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
+
+	// Preserve original input (e.g., v1.33.4-gke.1245000)
+	gitVersion := version
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(version, "v") {
+		gitVersion = "v" + version
+	}
+
+	// Normalize for constraint checking (strips all suffixes)
+	normalizedVer := "v" + sv.String()
+
 	return &KubeVersion{
-		Version: "v" + sv.String(),
-		Major:   strconv.FormatUint(uint64(sv.Major()), 10),
-		Minor:   strconv.FormatUint(uint64(sv.Minor()), 10),
+		Version:           gitVersion,
+		normalizedVersion: normalizedVer,
+		Major:             strconv.FormatUint(uint64(sv.Major()), 10),
+		Minor:             strconv.FormatUint(uint64(sv.Minor()), 10),
 	}, nil
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/chart/common/capabilities_test.go b/pkg/chart/common/capabilities_test.go
index 716b903aa..f29c2c752 100644
--- a/pkg/chart/common/capabilities_test.go
+++ b/pkg/chart/common/capabilities_test.go
@@ -83,18 +83,41 @@ func TestParseKubeVersion(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestParseKubeVersionSuffix(t *testing.T) {
-	kv, err := ParseKubeVersion("v1.28+")
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("Expected v1.28+ to parse successfully")
-	}
-	if kv.Version != "v1.28" {
-		t.Errorf("Expected parsed KubeVersion.Version to be v1.28, got %q", kv.String())
-	}
-	if kv.Major != "1" {
-		t.Errorf("Expected parsed KubeVersion.Major to be 1, got %q", kv.Major)
+func TestParseKubeVersionWithVendorSuffixes(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name       string
+		input      string
+		wantVer    string
+		wantString string
+		wantMajor  string
+		wantMinor  string
+	}{
+		{"GKE vendor suffix", "v1.33.4-gke.1245000", "v1.33.4-gke.1245000", "v1.33.4", "1", "33"},
+		{"GKE without v", "1.30.2-gke.1587003", "v1.30.2-gke.1587003", "v1.30.2", "1", "30"},
+		{"EKS trailing +", "v1.28+", "v1.28+", "v1.28", "1", "28"},
+		{"EKS + without v", "1.28+", "v1.28+", "v1.28", "1", "28"},
+		{"Standard version", "v1.31.0", "v1.31.0", "v1.31.0", "1", "31"},
+		{"Standard without v", "1.29.0", "v1.29.0", "v1.29.0", "1", "29"},
 	}
-	if kv.Minor != "28" {
-		t.Errorf("Expected parsed KubeVersion.Minor to be 28, got %q", kv.Minor)
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			kv, err := ParseKubeVersion(tt.input)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("ParseKubeVersion() error = %v", err)
+			}
+			if kv.Version != tt.wantVer {
+				t.Errorf("Version = %q, want %q", kv.Version, tt.wantVer)
+			}
+			if kv.String() != tt.wantString {
+				t.Errorf("String() = %q, want %q", kv.String(), tt.wantString)
+			}
+			if kv.Major != tt.wantMajor {
+				t.Errorf("Major = %q, want %q", kv.Major, tt.wantMajor)
+			}
+			if kv.Minor != tt.wantMinor {
+				t.Errorf("Minor = %q, want %q", kv.Minor, tt.wantMinor)
+			}
+		})
 	}
 }