diff --git a/internal/app/app.go b/internal/app/app.go
index c3748b15070324e9fa438b7ff56f15f76375974a..8519f258502ad10f146870b89c7bb5f0f50994e4 100644
--- a/internal/app/app.go
+++ b/internal/app/app.go
@@ -408,5 +408,6 @@ func (app *App) checkForUpdates(ctx context.Context) {
 	app.events <- pubsub.UpdateAvailableMsg{
 		CurrentVersion: info.Current,
 		LatestVersion:  info.Latest,
+		IsDevelopment:  info.IsDevelopment(),
 	}
 }
diff --git a/internal/pubsub/events.go b/internal/pubsub/events.go
index 27cd47c4061ccfd11e4a9250b1a2fe319e477044..dadecaa14545337404c15000da37fbd5901932df 100644
--- a/internal/pubsub/events.go
+++ b/internal/pubsub/events.go
@@ -31,4 +31,5 @@ type (
 type UpdateAvailableMsg struct {
 	CurrentVersion string
 	LatestVersion  string
+	IsDevelopment  bool
 }
diff --git a/internal/tui/tui.go b/internal/tui/tui.go
index 54bec287b2957fe97d377a3e34b9954c38338b71..e4eea700a4c109fa291fbaad3dc764e6df23921b 100644
--- a/internal/tui/tui.go
+++ b/internal/tui/tui.go
@@ -376,6 +376,9 @@ func (a *appModel) Update(msg tea.Msg) (tea.Model, tea.Cmd) {
 	case pubsub.UpdateAvailableMsg:
 		// Show update notification in status bar
 		statusMsg := fmt.Sprintf("Crush update available: v%s → v%s.", msg.CurrentVersion, msg.LatestVersion)
+		if msg.IsDevelopment {
+			statusMsg = fmt.Sprintf("This is a development version of Crush. The latest version is v%s.", msg.LatestVersion)
+		}
 		s, statusCmd := a.status.Update(util.InfoMsg{
 			Type: util.InfoTypeInfo,
 			Msg:  statusMsg,
diff --git a/internal/update/update.go b/internal/update/update.go
index 0a3178d818207f11a7f46560065c4d47e8a1f5e7..b4982996126eb5d95d7f9acf22721ddc7378aedc 100644
--- a/internal/update/update.go
+++ b/internal/update/update.go
@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@ type Info struct {
 	URL     string
 }
 
+func (i Info) IsDevelopment() bool {
+	return i.Current == "devel" || i.Current == "unknown" || strings.Contains(i.Current, "dirty")
+}
+
 // Available returns true if there's an update available.
 //
 // If both current and latest are stable versions, returns true if versions are
@@ -52,10 +56,6 @@ func Check(ctx context.Context, current string, client Client) (Info, error) {
 		Latest:  current,
 	}
 
-	if info.Current == "devel" || info.Current == "unknown" || strings.Contains(info.Current, "dirty") {
-		return info, nil
-	}
-
 	release, err := client.Latest(ctx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return info, fmt.Errorf("failed to fetch latest release: %w", err)
diff --git a/internal/update/update_test.go b/internal/update/update_test.go
index 488c7dfd4b29dec4dfe5d13958c13dcb914e5961..87e3849eb5a9ddc06b1e22c15c0bdde0b7739085 100644
--- a/internal/update/update_test.go
+++ b/internal/update/update_test.go
@@ -7,13 +7,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
 
-func TestCheckForUpdate_DevelopmentVersion(t *testing.T) {
-	info, err := Check(t.Context(), "unknown", testClient{"v0.11.0"})
-	require.NoError(t, err)
-	require.NotNil(t, info)
-	require.False(t, info.Available())
-}
-
 func TestCheckForUpdate_Old(t *testing.T) {
 	info, err := Check(t.Context(), "v0.10.0", testClient{"v0.11.0"})
 	require.NoError(t, err)