diff --git a/lib/mastodon/version.rb b/lib/mastodon/version.rb
index ee81eedaa..e3347ca17 100644
--- a/lib/mastodon/version.rb
+++ b/lib/mastodon/version.rb
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ module Mastodon
     end
 
     def flags
-      ENV.fetch('MASTODON_VERSION_FLAGS', '-beta2')
+      ENV['MASTODON_VERSION_FLAGS'].presence || '-beta2'
     end
 
     def suffix