diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 74f51ed..2b3c9e9 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,18 @@ This project follows a Keep a Changelog-style format and uses version tags for r
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [1.9.3] - 2026-08-12
+
+### Fixed
+
+- **Cover page rendered a doubled `v` in its version badge** (`vv1.8.0` live,
+  `vv1.9.2` on rebuild). `build-cover-dist.sh` substitutes `{{VERSION}}` with
+  an already-prefixed `v${VERSION}`, but the template wrote `v{{VERSION}}`, so
+  every publish since the placeholder was introduced doubled the prefix in both
+  the hero badge and the footer. The template now writes a bare `{{VERSION}}`.
+  This recurs on every build rather than being a one-off stale string, so it
+  could not be fixed by editing the rendered output.
+
 ## [1.9.2] - 2026-08-12
 
 ### Changed
diff --git a/cover/index.html b/cover/index.html
index bf29571..cc812cf 100644
--- a/cover/index.html
+++ b/cover/index.html
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@
 
 <section class="hero">
   <div class="wrap">
-    <span class="badge">v{{VERSION}}</span>
+    <span class="badge">{{VERSION}}</span>
     <h1>actop<span>.</span></h1>
     <p class="tagline">
       Watch your Apple Silicon Mac the way it actually works — <strong>sudoless</strong>,
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ <h2>actop — Apple <span style="color: var(--accent);">C</span>hip top</h2>
 
 <footer>
   <div class="wrap">
-    <p>actop v{{VERSION}} · an independent project inspired by <a href="https://github.com/tlkh/asitop">asitop</a> · MIT licensed</p>
+    <p>actop {{VERSION}} · an independent project inspired by <a href="https://github.com/tlkh/asitop">asitop</a> · MIT licensed</p>
   </div>
 </footer>
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index db8af14..f39fe85 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
 [project]
 name = "actop"
-version = "1.9.2"
+version = "1.9.3"
 description = "Apple Silicon (M1–M4) power, GPU, ANE & memory-bandwidth monitor — sudoless TUI + Python API for profiling local LLM / MLX / CoreML inference"
 readme = "README.md"
 license = { text = "MIT" }
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index 3e3934a..860310d 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ resolution-markers = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "actop"
-version = "1.9.2"
+version = "1.9.3"
 source = { editable = "." }
 dependencies = [
     { name = "rich" },