diff --git a/bin/docker-up-vinyldns.sh b/bin/docker-up-vinyldns.sh
index e52b45bae..cf31c427d 100755
--- a/bin/docker-up-vinyldns.sh
+++ b/bin/docker-up-vinyldns.sh
@@ -80,6 +80,8 @@ DOCKER_COMPOSE_CONFIG="${DIR}/../docker/docker-compose-quick-start.yml"
 SERVICE=""
 # when CLEAN is set to 1, existing docker images are deleted so they are re-pulled
 CLEAN=0
+# default to latest for docker versions
+export VINYLDNS_VERSION=latest
 
 # source env before parsing args so vars can be overwritten
 set -a # Required in order to source docker/.env
diff --git a/docker/.env b/docker/.env
index 15a858ebb..f62f70ab1 100644
--- a/docker/.env
+++ b/docker/.env
@@ -16,6 +16,3 @@ MYSQL_ENDPOINT=vinyldns-mysql:3306
 USER_TABLE_NAME=users
 USER_CHANGE_TABLE_NAME=userChange
 TEST_LOGIN=true
-
-# api and portal docker tag
-VINYLDNS_VERSION=0.9.5
diff --git a/docker/.env.quickstart b/docker/.env.quickstart
index 12b360f82..4db81eae0 100644
--- a/docker/.env.quickstart
+++ b/docker/.env.quickstart
@@ -16,6 +16,3 @@ MYSQL_ENDPOINT=vinyldns-mysql:3306
 USER_TABLE_NAME=users
 USER_CHANGE_TABLE_NAME=userChange
 TEST_LOGIN=true
-
-# api and portal docker tag
-VINYLDNS_VERSION=0.9.5