diff --git a/cmd/helm/installer/install_test.go b/cmd/helm/installer/install_test.go
index b769e736e..412b6025e 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/installer/install_test.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/installer/install_test.go
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"reflect"
-	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/ghodss/yaml"
@@ -59,7 +58,7 @@ func TestDeploymentManifest(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 
 		// Unreleased versions of helm don't have a release image. See issue 3370
-		if tt.name == "default" && !(len(strings.Split(version.Version, ".")) > 2) {
+		if tt.name == "default" && version.BuildMetadata == "unreleased" {
 			tt.expect = "gcr.io/kubernetes-helm/tiller:canary"
 		}
 		if got := dep.Spec.Template.Spec.Containers[0].Image; got != tt.expect {
diff --git a/cmd/helm/installer/options.go b/cmd/helm/installer/options.go
index c4e2c11b2..c4e71ec35 100644
--- a/cmd/helm/installer/options.go
+++ b/cmd/helm/installer/options.go
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ package installer // import "k8s.io/helm/cmd/helm/installer"
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
-	"strings"
 
 	"k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	"k8s.io/helm/pkg/strvals"
@@ -102,7 +101,7 @@ func (opts *Options) selectImage() string {
 	case opts.UseCanary:
 		return defaultImage + ":canary"
 	case opts.ImageSpec == "":
-		if !(len(strings.Split(version.Version, ".")) > 2) {
+		if version.BuildMetadata == "unreleased" {
 			return defaultImage + ":canary"
 		}
 		return fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", defaultImage, version.Version)