diff --git a/create_debian-changelog-from-git.py b/create_debian-changelog-from-git.py
index d1d68e8747e39d4453c672212cdeb282978056a3..cb1fe865b5dae6b62021492774d72c8bd42eedc0 100755
--- a/create_debian-changelog-from-git.py
+++ b/create_debian-changelog-from-git.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ def print_release(tag=None, commits=tuple(), last_tag=None):
 
 	if tag:
 		release_status = 'unstable'
-		release_version = tag.name[1:] # strip leading "v"
+		release_version = tag.name.lstrip('v')
 		if isinstance(tag.object, git.TagObject):
 			release_author = tag.object.tagger
 			release_date = tag.object.tagged_date
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ def print_release(tag=None, commits=tuple(), last_tag=None):
 		date = datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(release_date).strftime('%Y%m%dT%H%M%S')
 		last_version = '0.0.0'
 		if last_tag:
-			last_version = last_tag.name[1:] # strip leading "v"
+			last_version = last_tag.lstrip('v')
 		release_version = f'{last_version}+git{date}-{commits[0].hexsha[:8]}'
 
 	print(f'{package_name} ({release_version}) {release_status}; urgency=medium')