diff --git a/.github/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml b/.github/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml
index c395301..b7a1b44 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/R-CMD-check.yaml
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@ name: R-CMD-check
 on:
   push:
     branches: [main]
+    tags:
+      - "v*"
+      - "[0-9]*"
   pull_request:
     branches: [main]
 
@@ -16,6 +19,17 @@ jobs:
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v7
 
+      - name: Verify release tag matches DESCRIPTION
+        if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
+        shell: bash
+        run: |
+          package_version="$(sed -n 's/^Version: //p' DESCRIPTION)"
+          tag_version="${GITHUB_REF_NAME#v}"
+          if [[ "$package_version" != "$tag_version" ]]; then
+            echo "Tag $GITHUB_REF_NAME does not match DESCRIPTION version $package_version" >&2
+            exit 1
+          fi
+
       - uses: r-lib/actions/setup-r@v2
         with:
           use-public-rspm: true
diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index cb90143..2553d93 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 Package: phontrast
 Title: Contrast and Separation Metrics for Phonological Categories
-Version: 2.3.1
+Version: 2.4.0
 Authors@R:
     person(c("Grant", "M."), "Berry", email = "berry.grant@gmail.com",
            role = c("aut", "cre"))
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 86c9fe3..c871ead 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,5 +1,11 @@
 # phontrast 2.4.0
 
+## Version metadata
+
+- Corrected the package version in `DESCRIPTION` to 2.4.0. The original
+  release tags contained the 2.4.0 changes but retained the 2.3.1 package
+  metadata.
+
 ## Proportion-standardized Pillai estimates
 
 - Added the opt-in `proportion_standardized = TRUE` mode to