diff --git a/templates/_helpers.tpl b/templates/_helpers.tpl
index 850373f..e6990b9 100644
--- a/templates/_helpers.tpl
+++ b/templates/_helpers.tpl
@@ -30,14 +30,22 @@ Create chart name and version as used by the chart label.
 {{- printf "%s-%s" .Chart.Name .Chart.Version | replace "+" "_" | trunc 63 | trimSuffix "-" }}
 {{- end }}
 
+{{/*
+Resolve the effective Typesense application version.
+*/}}
+{{- define "typesense.appVersion" -}}
+{{- .Values.image.tag | default .Chart.AppVersion -}}
+{{- end }}
+
 {{/*
 Common labels
 */}}
 {{- define "typesense.labels" -}}
 helm.sh/chart: {{ include "typesense.chart" . }}
 {{ include "typesense.selectorLabels" . }}
-{{- if .Chart.AppVersion }}
-app.kubernetes.io/version: {{ .Chart.AppVersion | quote }}
+{{- $appVersion := include "typesense.appVersion" . }}
+{{- if $appVersion }}
+app.kubernetes.io/version: {{ $appVersion | quote }}
 {{- end }}
 app.kubernetes.io/managed-by: {{ .Release.Service }}
 {{- if .Chart.Annotations.team }}
@@ -104,4 +112,4 @@ Create the nodeslist
   {{- $nodes = append $nodes $node }}
 {{- end }}
 {{- $nodes | join "," }}
-{{- end }}
\ No newline at end of file
+{{- end }}
diff --git a/tests/statefulset_test.yaml b/tests/statefulset_test.yaml
index 855a242..3f86650 100644
--- a/tests/statefulset_test.yaml
+++ b/tests/statefulset_test.yaml
@@ -84,6 +84,18 @@ tests:
       - equal:
           path: .spec.replicas
           value: 5
+  - it: should use the effective image tag for app version labels when overridden
+    set:
+      image:
+        tag: "26.0"
+    asserts:
+      - notFailedTemplate: {}
+      - equal:
+          path: .spec.template.metadata.labels["app.kubernetes.io/version"]
+          value: "26.0"
+      - equal:
+          path: .spec.template.spec.containers[0].image
+          value: typesense/typesense:26.0
   - it: should reject even replica counts greater than 1
     set:
       replicaCount: 4