diff --git a/libs/cli/langgraph_cli/config.py b/libs/cli/langgraph_cli/config.py
index 32ae63ea2..3dcca9840 100644
--- a/libs/cli/langgraph_cli/config.py
+++ b/libs/cli/langgraph_cli/config.py
@@ -1269,6 +1269,11 @@ def docker_tag(
     version_distro_tag = f"{version}{distro_tag}"
 
     # Prepend API version if provided
+    # Strip an existing tag from base_image so we don't produce two colons
+    # (e.g. "langchain/langgraph-server:0.2" → "langchain/langgraph-server").
+    if ":" in base_image:
+        base_image = base_image.rsplit(":", 1)[0]
+
     if api_version:
         full_tag = f"{api_version}-{language}{version_distro_tag}"
     elif "/langgraph-server" in base_image and version_distro_tag not in base_image:
@@ -1276,11 +1281,6 @@ def docker_tag(
     else:
         full_tag = version_distro_tag
 
-    # Strip an existing tag from base_image so we don't produce two colons
-    # (e.g. "langchain/langgraph-server:0.2" → "langchain/langgraph-server").
-    if ":" in base_image:
-        base_image = base_image.rsplit(":", 1)[0]
-
     return f"{base_image}:{full_tag}"
 
 
@@ -1427,13 +1427,6 @@ def config_to_compose(
                 additional_contexts:
 {executor_additional_contexts_str}"""
 
-            if not api_version:
-                raise click.ClickException(
-                    "Distributed runtime requires a pinned API version for all images.\n"
-                    "Either pass --api-version explicitly or let the CLI resolve it "
-                    "from the Docker Hub version marker."
-                )
-
             postgres_uri = "postgres://postgres:postgres@langgraph-postgres:5432/postgres?sslmode=disable"
             result += f"""    langgraph-orchestrator:
         image: langchain/langgraph-orchestrator-licensed:{api_version}
diff --git a/libs/cli/tests/unit_tests/test_config.py b/libs/cli/tests/unit_tests/test_config.py
index 66810f632..cf36ee6a7 100644
--- a/libs/cli/tests/unit_tests/test_config.py
+++ b/libs/cli/tests/unit_tests/test_config.py
@@ -1904,18 +1904,6 @@ def test_config_to_compose_distributed_orchestrator_uses_api_version():
     assert "langchain/langgraph-orchestrator-licensed:0.7.67" in actual
 
 
-def test_config_to_compose_distributed_requires_api_version():
-    """Without api_version, distributed mode should raise ClickException."""
-    graphs = {"agent": "./agent.py:graph"}
-    with pytest.raises(click.ClickException, match="pinned API version"):
-        config_to_compose(
-            PATH_TO_CONFIG,
-            validate_config({"dependencies": ["."], "graphs": graphs}),
-            "langchain/langgraph-api",
-            engine_runtime_mode="distributed",
-        )
-
-
 def test_config_to_compose_distributed_all_images_same_version():
     """All 3 images (api, executor, orchestrator) should use the same api_version."""
     graphs = {"agent": "./agent.py:graph"}