diff --git a/.bazelrc b/.bazelrc
index 715d3fce..d6385ba7 100644
--- a/.bazelrc
+++ b/.bazelrc
@@ -10,9 +10,10 @@ common --tool_java_runtime_version=remotejdk_21
 # compilation (and Turbine can't run Lombok), so disable header compilation.
 build --java_header_compilation=false
 
-# Stamping: workspace status provides STABLE_VERSION as YYYY.MMDD.HHMM
-# (per-minute UTC, each component <65535 for MSI). Invoked as `bash` so it
-# works on Linux/macOS and on Windows via Git bash (C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe).
+# Stamping: workspace status provides STABLE_VERSION as YY.MM.N
+# (per-minute UTC, N = (DD-1)*1440+HH*60+MM, fits MSI 255.255.65535 and
+# macOS CFBundleVersion 1-3 integers). Invoked as `bash` so it works on
+# Linux/macOS and on Windows via Git bash (C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe).
 # Use --config=stamp or --stamp together with this command. The stamp config
 # bundles both.
 build:stamp --stamp
diff --git a/java/com/cowlark/fluxengine/core/Version.java b/java/com/cowlark/fluxengine/core/Version.java
index 1bdee2e0..aa4da2f9 100644
--- a/java/com/cowlark/fluxengine/core/Version.java
+++ b/java/com/cowlark/fluxengine/core/Version.java
@@ -6,10 +6,12 @@
 /* Provides the application version, supplied at build time via Bazel stamping.
  *
  * Bazel generates version.properties via scripts/version.bzl from
- * STABLE_VERSION (scripts/workspace_status.sh as YYYY.MMDD.HHMM per-minute UTC,
- * each component <65535 so valid for Windows MSI ProductVersion). The value is
- * also available as -Dfluxengine.version if set; otherwise the properties file
- * is read. When built without --stamp, falls back to 1.0.0-dev.
+ * STABLE_VERSION (scripts/workspace_status.sh as YY.MM.N per-minute UTC
+ * where N = (DD-1)*1440 + HH*60 + MM, fits MSI 255.255.65535 and macOS
+ * CFBundleVersion 1-3 integers). This is the same version passed to jpackage
+ * as --app-version, so Version.get() reports the installer version. The value
+ * is also available as -Dfluxengine.version if set; otherwise the properties
+ * file is read. When built without --stamp, falls back to 1.0.0-dev.
  */
 public final class Version
 {
diff --git a/scripts/jpackage.bzl b/scripts/jpackage.bzl
index ccea9621..2fccb11c 100644
--- a/scripts/jpackage.bzl
+++ b/scripts/jpackage.bzl
@@ -84,7 +84,8 @@ def _jpackage_impl(ctx):
     # supplied via --resource-dir to avoid post-processing.
     #
     # Stamping: when stamp=True and --stamp is set, read STABLE_VERSION from
-    # the stable-status file (produced by scripts/workspace_status.sh via
+    # the stable-status file (produced by scripts/workspace_status.sh as
+    # YY.MM.N per-minute UTC, N = (DD-1)*1440+HH*60+MM, via
     # `bash scripts/workspace_status.sh`, which works on Linux/macOS and on
     # Windows via Git bash). Fall back to app_version (1.0.0) otherwise.
     stamp_inputs = [ctx.info_file] if ctx.attr.stamp else []
diff --git a/scripts/version.bzl b/scripts/version.bzl
index a8d5e365..aa9878f4 100644
--- a/scripts/version.bzl
+++ b/scripts/version.bzl
@@ -1,4 +1,9 @@
-"""Generates version.properties containing fluxengine.version from Bazel stamp."""
+"""Generates version.properties containing fluxengine.version from Bazel stamp.
+
+STABLE_VERSION is produced by scripts/workspace_status.sh as YY.MM.N per-minute
+UTC (N = (DD-1)*1440+HH*60+MM) and is used as jpackage --app-version, so
+fluxengine.version matches the installer version.
+"""
 
 def _version_properties_impl(ctx):
     out = ctx.actions.declare_file("version.properties")
diff --git a/scripts/workspace_status.sh b/scripts/workspace_status.sh
index 195d8ab1..f6587d2d 100755
--- a/scripts/workspace_status.sh
+++ b/scripts/workspace_status.sh
@@ -4,8 +4,18 @@
 # Uses bash from Git on Windows (C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe) as well as
 # Linux/macOS. Produces STABLE_VERSION for jpackage and -Dfluxengine.version.
 #
-# Format YYYY.MMDD.HHMM (per-minute, UTC) e.g. 2026.0919.1430
-# Each dotted component <65535 so valid for Windows MSI ProductVersion,
-# Debian upstream_version and RPM Version.
-echo "STABLE_VERSION $(date -u +%Y.%m%d.%H%M)"
+# Format YY.MM.N (per-minute UTC) where N is minutes since start of month:
+#   N = (DD - 1) * 1440 + HH * 60 + MM, 0 <= N <= 44639
+# e.g. 26.09.19 14:30 UTC -> N = 18*1440 + 14*60 + 30 = 26790 -> 26.9.26790
+# Three components satisfy macOS CFBundleVersion (1-3 integers, 18 chars,
+# jpackage on JDK 21 rejects >3), MSI ProductVersion 255.255.65535 (first
+# <256, second <256, third <65535), Debian upstream_version and RPM Version,
+# while preserving per-minute monotonicity.
+YY=$(date -u +%y)
+MM=$(date -u +%m)
+DD=$(date -u +%d)
+HH=$(date -u +%H)
+MIN=$(date -u +%M)
+N=$(( (10#$DD - 1) * 1440 + 10#$HH * 60 + 10#$MIN ))
+echo "STABLE_VERSION $((10#$YY)).$((10#$MM)).$N"
 echo "BUILD_TIMESTAMP $(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)"