diff --git a/modules/packages/debian/metadata.go b/modules/packages/debian/metadata.go
index e44801654b..1729a2206e 100644
--- a/modules/packages/debian/metadata.go
+++ b/modules/packages/debian/metadata.go
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ var (
 	// https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-controlfields.html#source
 	namePattern = regexp.MustCompile(`\A[a-z0-9][a-z0-9+-.]+\z`)
 	// https://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/ch-controlfields.html#version
-	versionPattern = regexp.MustCompile(`\A(?:[0-9]:)?[a-zA-Z0-9.+~]+(?:-[a-zA-Z0-9.+-~]+)?\z`)
+	versionPattern = regexp.MustCompile(`\A(?:[1-9]?[0-9]:)?[a-zA-Z0-9.+~]+(?:-[a-zA-Z0-9.+-~]+)?\z`)
 )
 
 type Package struct {
diff --git a/modules/packages/debian/metadata_test.go b/modules/packages/debian/metadata_test.go
index cfcbc57ee0..079b9c19c8 100644
--- a/modules/packages/debian/metadata_test.go
+++ b/modules/packages/debian/metadata_test.go
@@ -167,6 +167,14 @@ func TestParseControlFile(t *testing.T) {
 		require.ErrorIs(t, err, ErrInvalidArchitecture)
 	})
 
+	t.Run("ValidVersionEpoch", func(t *testing.T) {
+		for _, version := range []string{"0:1.2.3-test", "1:1.2.3-test", "9:1.2.3-test", "10:1.2.3-test", "37:1.2.3-test", "99:1.2.3-test"} {
+			p, err := ParseControlFile(buildContent(packageName, version, packageArchitecture))
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			assert.NotNil(t, p)
+		}
+	})
+
 	t.Run("Valid", func(t *testing.T) {
 		content := buildContent(packageName, packageVersion, packageArchitecture)
 		full := content.String()