diff --git a/debian/rules b/debian/rules
index 42601f0d..c7a14cd0 100755
--- a/debian/rules
+++ b/debian/rules
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@ binaries: ## Create containerd binaries
 	rm -f bin/containerd-stress
 
 bin/runc:
-	@set -x; make -C /go/src/github.com/opencontainers/runc  --no-print-directory \
+	# Unset the VERSION variable as it's meant for containerd's version, not runc.
+	@set -x; env -u VERSION make -C /go/src/github.com/opencontainers/runc  --no-print-directory \
 		BINDIR="$$(pwd)/bin" \
 		runc install
 
diff --git a/rpm/containerd.spec b/rpm/containerd.spec
index 6c565b79..f827aab3 100644
--- a/rpm/containerd.spec
+++ b/rpm/containerd.spec
@@ -117,7 +117,8 @@ rm -f bin/containerd-stress
 bin/containerd --version
 bin/ctr --version
 
-make -C /go/src/github.com/opencontainers/runc BINDIR=%{_builddir}/bin runc install
+# Unset the VERSION variable as it's meant for containerd's version, not runc.
+env -u VERSION make -C /go/src/github.com/opencontainers/runc BINDIR=%{_builddir}/bin runc install
 
 
 %install