diff --git a/internal/plugin/installer/vcs_installer_test.go b/internal/plugin/installer/vcs_installer_test.go
index a679bb153..e40cb4243 100644
--- a/internal/plugin/installer/vcs_installer_test.go
+++ b/internal/plugin/installer/vcs_installer_test.go
@@ -220,8 +220,8 @@ func TestVCSInstallerUpdateWithVersion(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 
-	// Now test update with specific version constraint
-	vcsInstaller.Version = "~0.1.0"
+	// Now test update with specific version
+	vcsInstaller.Version = "0.1.1"
 	if err := Update(vcsInstaller); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ func TestVCSInstallerUpdateWithVersion(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("expected version '0.1.1', got %q", repo.current)
 	}
 
-	// Test update with different version constraint
+	// Test update with different version
 	vcsInstaller.Version = "0.2.0"
 	if err := Update(vcsInstaller); err != nil {
 		t.Fatal(err)
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/plugin_update.go b/pkg/cmd/plugin_update.go
index b8c43dcb0..6bffe1658 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/plugin_update.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/plugin_update.go
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ const pluginUpdateDesc = `Update one or more Helm plugins.
 An exact semver version can be supplied per-plugin using the @version syntax:
 
     helm plugin update myplugin@1.2.3 otherplugin@2.0.0
-    helm plugin update myplugin@v1.0.0
+    helm plugin update myplugin@1.0.0
 
 Range constraints (e.g. ~1.2, ^1.0.0, >=1.0.0, v1.0.0) are not supported.
 
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ func (o *pluginUpdateOptions) complete(args []string) error {
 		}
 		if version != "" {
 			if _, err := semver.StrictNewVersion(version); err != nil {
-				return fmt.Errorf("invalid version %q for plugin %q: must be an exact semver version (e.g. 1.2.3)", version, name)
+				return fmt.Errorf("invalid version %q for plugin %q: must be an exact semver version (e.g. 1.2.3); the 'v' prefix is not allowed", version, name)
 			}
 		}
 		o.plugins[name] = version