diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 12d85ceec1865..692b36a8b04da 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -645,7 +645,7 @@ release-sources: | $(DIST_DIRS)
 	echo $(VERSION) > $(STORED_VERSION_FILE)
 # bsdtar needs a ^ to prevent matching subdirectories
 	$(eval EXCL := --exclude=$(shell tar --help | grep -q bsdtar && echo "^")./)
-	tar $(addprefix $(EXCL),$(TAR_EXCLUDES)) -czf $(DIST)/release/gitea-src-$(VERSION).tar.gz .
+	tar $(addprefix $(EXCL),$(TAR_EXCLUDES)) --transform='flags=r;s|^\./|./gitea-$(VERSION)/|g' -czf $(DIST)/release/gitea-src-$(VERSION).tar.gz .
 	rm -f $(STORED_VERSION_FILE)
 
 .PHONY: release-docs