diff --git a/src/Velopack.Packaging/BuildAssets.cs b/src/Velopack.Packaging/BuildAssets.cs
index dc1b8f15..74fbbb24 100644
--- a/src/Velopack.Packaging/BuildAssets.cs
+++ b/src/Velopack.Packaging/BuildAssets.cs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ using System.Linq;
 using System.Text;
 using System.Text.Json;
 using System.Threading.Tasks;
+using Velopack.Json;
 using Velopack.Packaging.Exceptions;
 
 namespace Velopack.Packaging
@@ -19,19 +20,13 @@ namespace Velopack.Packaging
                 .ToList();
         }
 
-        private static readonly JsonSerializerOptions _options = new JsonSerializerOptions {
-            AllowTrailingCommas = true,
-            WriteIndented = true,
-            ReadCommentHandling = JsonCommentHandling.Skip,
-        };
-
         public static void Write(string outputDir, string channel, IEnumerable<string> files)
         {
             var assets = new BuildAssets {
                 Files = files.OrderBy(f => f).ToList(),
             };
             var path = Path.Combine(outputDir, $"assets.{channel}.json");
-            var json = JsonSerializer.Serialize(assets, _options);
+            var json = JsonSerializer.Serialize(assets, SimpleJson.Options);
             File.WriteAllText(path, json);
         }
 
@@ -42,7 +37,7 @@ namespace Velopack.Packaging
                 throw new UserInfoException($"Could not find assets file for channel '{channel}' (looking for '{Path.GetFileName(path)}' in directory '{outputDir}'). " +
                     $"If you've just created a Velopack release, verify you're calling this command with the same '--channel' as you did with 'pack'.");
             }
-            return JsonSerializer.Deserialize<BuildAssets>(File.ReadAllText(path), _options);
+            return JsonSerializer.Deserialize<BuildAssets>(File.ReadAllText(path), SimpleJson.Options);
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Velopack.Packaging/PackageBuilder.cs b/src/Velopack.Packaging/PackageBuilder.cs
index 0d07fb37..bacee744 100644
--- a/src/Velopack.Packaging/PackageBuilder.cs
+++ b/src/Velopack.Packaging/PackageBuilder.cs
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ namespace Velopack.Packaging
                         File.Move(f.from, f.to, true);
                     }
 
-                    ReleaseEntryHelper.UpdateReleaseFiles(releaseDir.FullName);
+                    ReleaseEntryHelper.UpdateReleaseFiles(releaseDir.FullName, Log);
                     BuildAssets.Write(releaseDir.FullName, channel, filesToCopy.Select(x => x.to));
                     progress(100);
                     return Task.CompletedTask;
diff --git a/src/Velopack.Packaging/ReleaseEntryHelper.cs b/src/Velopack.Packaging/ReleaseEntryHelper.cs
index 074b3119..0ec70287 100644
--- a/src/Velopack.Packaging/ReleaseEntryHelper.cs
+++ b/src/Velopack.Packaging/ReleaseEntryHelper.cs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ using System.Text.Json.Serialization;
 using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
 using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
 using NuGet.Versioning;
+using Velopack.Json;
 using Velopack.NuGet;
 using Velopack.Packaging.Exceptions;
 using Velopack.Sources;
@@ -90,7 +91,7 @@ namespace Velopack.Packaging
             return assets;
         }
 
-        public static void UpdateReleaseFiles(string outputDir)
+        public static void UpdateReleaseFiles(string outputDir, ILogger log)
         {
             var releases = GetReleasesFromDir(outputDir);
             foreach (var releaseFile in Directory.EnumerateFiles(outputDir, "RELEASES*")) {
@@ -98,10 +99,16 @@ namespace Velopack.Packaging
             }
             foreach (var kvp in releases) {
                 if (VelopackRuntimeInfo.IsWindows && kvp.Key == GetDefaultChannel(RuntimeOs.Windows)) {
+                    var exclude = kvp.Value.Where(x => x.Version.ReleaseLabels.Any(r => r.Contains('.')) || x.Version.HasMetadata).ToArray();
+                    if (exclude.Any()) {
+                        log.Warn($"Excluding {exclude.Length} assets from legacy RELEASES file, because they " +
+                            $"contain an invalid character in the version: {string.Join(", ", exclude.Select(x => x.FileName))}");
+                    }
+
                     // We write a legacy RELEASES file to allow older applications to update to velopack
 #pragma warning disable CS0618 // Type or member is obsolete
                     var path = Path.Combine(outputDir, "RELEASES");
-                    ReleaseEntry.WriteReleaseFile(kvp.Value.Select(ReleaseEntry.FromVelopackAsset), path);
+                    ReleaseEntry.WriteReleaseFile(kvp.Value.Except(exclude).Select(ReleaseEntry.FromVelopackAsset), path);
 #pragma warning restore CS0618 // Type or member is obsolete
                 }
                 var indexPath = Path.Combine(outputDir, Utility.GetVeloReleaseIndexName(kvp.Key));
@@ -119,18 +126,13 @@ namespace Velopack.Packaging
 
         public static string GetAssetFeedJson(VelopackAssetFeed feed)
         {
-            return JsonSerializer.Serialize(feed, new JsonSerializerOptions() {
-                WriteIndented = true,
-                DefaultIgnoreCondition = JsonIgnoreCondition.WhenWritingNull,
-                Converters = {
-                    new JsonStringEnumConverter(),
-                },
-            });
+            return JsonSerializer.Serialize(feed, SimpleJson.Options);
         }
 
         public static string GetSuggestedReleaseName(string id, string version, string channel, bool delta)
         {
             var suffix = GetUniqueAssetSuffix(channel);
+            version = SemanticVersion.Parse(version).ToNormalizedString();
             if (VelopackRuntimeInfo.IsWindows && channel == GetDefaultChannel(RuntimeOs.Windows)) {
                 return $"{id}-{version}{(delta ? "-delta" : "-full")}.nupkg";
             }
diff --git a/src/Velopack/Internal/SimpleJson.cs b/src/Velopack/Internal/SimpleJson.cs
index 2b920224..160108ab 100644
--- a/src/Velopack/Internal/SimpleJson.cs
+++ b/src/Velopack/Internal/SimpleJson.cs
@@ -1,14 +1,13 @@
 using System;
 using NuGet.Versioning;
-using System.Text.Json.Serialization;
 
 #if NET5_0_OR_GREATER
 using System.Text.Json;
+using System.Text.Json.Serialization;
 #else
 using System.Reflection;
 using Newtonsoft.Json;
 using Newtonsoft.Json.Converters;
-using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;
 using Newtonsoft.Json.Serialization;
 #endif
 
@@ -30,6 +29,8 @@ namespace Velopack.Json
             AllowTrailingCommas = true,
             ReadCommentHandling = JsonCommentHandling.Skip,
             PropertyNameCaseInsensitive = true,
+            WriteIndented = true,
+            DefaultIgnoreCondition = JsonIgnoreCondition.WhenWritingNull,
             Converters = { new JsonStringEnumConverter(), new SemanticVersionConverter() },
         };