diff --git a/cmake/toolchain/nxcals.cmake b/cmake/toolchain/nxcals.cmake
index a8d29cafe8d75920718c6022e8e6ec7889334a07..c642242b872638a51c068b973843187aed45670c 100644
--- a/cmake/toolchain/nxcals.cmake
+++ b/cmake/toolchain/nxcals.cmake
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ set(NXCALS_MGM_URL root://eosproject.cern.ch://)
 set(PATTERN_NXCALS_JAVA "data-access-libs")
 set(PATTERN_NXCALS_PYTHON "extraction_api_python3-")
 
-# a number followed by repeated (either a dot or rc (release candidate) or b (beta) and another number)
-set(NXCALS_VERSION_MATCH "[0-9]((\\.|rc|b)[0-9]+)+")
+# a number followed by repeated (a dot followed by numbers or letters or both)
+set(NXCALS_VERSION_MATCH "[0-9](\\.[a-z0-9]+)+")
 
 # upgrade pip for latest version
 execute_process(COMMAND $ENV{SHELL} -c "python3 -m pip install --upgrade --user pip")