diff --git a/src/integTest/groovy/nebula/plugin/release/ReleasePluginIntegrationSpec.groovy b/src/integTest/groovy/nebula/plugin/release/ReleasePluginIntegrationSpec.groovy
index 51b9858..6631fcd 100644
--- a/src/integTest/groovy/nebula/plugin/release/ReleasePluginIntegrationSpec.groovy
+++ b/src/integTest/groovy/nebula/plugin/release/ReleasePluginIntegrationSpec.groovy
@@ -626,7 +626,7 @@ class ReleasePluginIntegrationSpec extends GitVersioningIntegrationSpec {
         def result = runTasksWithFailure('final', '-Prelease.useLastTag=true')
 
         then:
-        result.standardError.contains "Current tag does not appear to be a final version"
+        result.standardError.contains "Current tag (3.1.2-rc.1) does not appear to be a final version"
         !new File(projectDir, "build/libs/${moduleName}-3.1.2-rc.1.jar").exists()
     }
 
@@ -650,7 +650,7 @@ class ReleasePluginIntegrationSpec extends GitVersioningIntegrationSpec {
         def result = runTasksWithFailure('candidate', '-Prelease.useLastTag=true')
 
         then:
-        result.standardError.contains "Current tag does not appear to be a prerelease version"
+        result.standardError.contains "Current tag (3.1.2) does not appear to be a pre-release version. A pre-release version MAY be denoted by appending a hyphen and a series of dot separated identifiers immediately following the patch version. For more information, please refer to https://semver.org/"
         !new File(projectDir, "build/libs/${moduleName}-3.1.2-rc.1.jar").exists()
         !new File(projectDir, "build/libs/${moduleName}-3.1.2.jar").exists()
     }
@@ -815,7 +815,7 @@ class ReleasePluginIntegrationSpec extends GitVersioningIntegrationSpec {
         def result = runTasksWithFailure('candidate', '-Prelease.useLastTag=true')
 
         then:
-        result.standardError.contains "Current tag does not appear to be a prerelease version"
+        result.standardError.contains "Current tag (3.1.2) does not appear to be a pre-release version. A pre-release version MAY be denoted by appending a hyphen and a series of dot separated identifiers immediately following the patch version. For more information, please refer to https://semver.org/"
         !new File(projectDir, "build/libs/${moduleName}-3.1.2.jar").exists()
     }
 
@@ -988,7 +988,7 @@ class ReleasePluginIntegrationSpec extends GitVersioningIntegrationSpec {
         def result = runTasksWithFailure('final', '-Prelease.useLastTag=true')
 
         then:
-        result.standardError.contains 'Current tag does not appear to be a final version'
+        result.standardError.contains 'Current tag (3.1.2-release2) does not appear to be a final version'
     }
 
 
diff --git a/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/release/OverrideStrategies.groovy b/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/release/OverrideStrategies.groovy
index 8a5cbae..305742f 100644
--- a/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/release/OverrideStrategies.groovy
+++ b/src/main/groovy/nebula/plugin/release/OverrideStrategies.groovy
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
  */
 package nebula.plugin.release
 
+import com.github.zafarkhaja.semver.Version
 import nebula.plugin.release.git.base.ReleasePluginExtension
 import nebula.plugin.release.git.base.ReleaseVersion
 import nebula.plugin.release.git.base.VersionStrategy
@@ -85,15 +86,16 @@ class OverrideStrategies {
                     throw new GradleException("Current commit has a snapshot, immutableSnapshot or devSnapshot tag. 'useLastTag' requires a prerelease or final tag.")
                 }
 
-                def preReleaseVersion = locate.any.preReleaseVersion
+                Version version = locate.any
+                def preReleaseVersion = version.preReleaseVersion
                 if (releaseStage == 'rc') {
                     if (!(preReleaseVersion ==~ /rc\.\d+/)) {
-                        throw new GradleException("Current tag does not appear to be a prerelease version")
+                        throw new GradleException("Current tag ($version) does not appear to be a pre-release version. A pre-release version MAY be denoted by appending a hyphen and a series of dot separated identifiers immediately following the patch version. For more information, please refer to https://semver.org/")
                     }
                 }
                 if (releaseStage == 'final') {
                     if (preReleaseVersion) {
-                        throw new GradleException("Current tag does not appear to be a final version")
+                        throw new GradleException("Current tag ($version) does not appear to be a final version. final task can not be used with prerelease versions. A pre-release version MAY be denoted by appending a hyphen and a series of dot separated identifiers immediately following the patch version.  For more information, please refer to https://semver.org/")
                     }
                 }