diff --git a/grype/version/fuzzy_constraint.go b/grype/version/fuzzy_constraint.go
index abda758d501..77d788332cf 100644
--- a/grype/version/fuzzy_constraint.go
+++ b/grype/version/fuzzy_constraint.go
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 // derived from https://semver.org/, but additionally matches partial versions (e.g. "2.0")
-var pseudoSemverPattern = regexp.MustCompile(`^(0|[1-9]\d*)(\.(0|[1-9]\d*))?(\.(0|[1-9]\d*))?(?:-((?:0|[1-9]\d*|\d*[a-zA-Z-][0-9a-zA-Z-]*)(?:\.(?:0|[1-9]\d*|\d*[a-zA-Z-][0-9a-zA-Z-]*))*))?(?:\+([0-9a-zA-Z-]+(?:\.[0-9a-zA-Z-]+)*))?$`)
+var pseudoSemverPattern = regexp.MustCompile(`^(0|[1-9]\d*)(\.(0|[1-9]\d*))?(\.(0|[1-9]\d*))?(?:(-|alpha|beta|rc)((?:0|[1-9]\d*|\d*[a-zA-Z-][0-9a-zA-Z-]*)(?:\.(?:0|[1-9]\d*|\d*[a-zA-Z-][0-9a-zA-Z-]*))*))?(?:\+([0-9a-zA-Z-]+(?:\.[0-9a-zA-Z-]+)*))?$`)
 
 type fuzzyConstraint struct {
 	rawPhrase          string
diff --git a/grype/version/fuzzy_constraint_test.go b/grype/version/fuzzy_constraint_test.go
index 150a383e30e..3be6292d469 100644
--- a/grype/version/fuzzy_constraint_test.go
+++ b/grype/version/fuzzy_constraint_test.go
@@ -264,6 +264,84 @@ func TestFuzzyConstraintSatisfaction(t *testing.T) {
 			constraint: "> v1.5",
 			satisfied:  true,
 		},
+		{
+			name:       "rc candidates with no '-' can match semver pattern",
+			version:    "1.20rc1",
+			constraint: " = 1.20.0-rc1",
+			satisfied:  true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "candidates ahead of alpha",
+			version:    "3.11.0",
+			constraint: "> 3.11.0-alpha1",
+			satisfied:  true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "candidates ahead of beta",
+			version:    "3.11.0",
+			constraint: "> 3.11.0-beta1",
+			satisfied:  true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "candidates ahead of same alpha versions",
+			version:    "3.11.0-alpha5",
+			constraint: "> 3.11.0-alpha1",
+			satisfied:  true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "candidates are placed correctly between alpha and release",
+			version:    "3.11.0-beta5",
+			constraint: "3.11.0 || = 3.11.0-alpha1",
+			satisfied:  false,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "candidates with letter suffix are alphabetically greater than their versions",
+			version:    "1.0.2a",
+			constraint: " < 1.0.2w",
+			satisfied:  true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "candidates with multiple letter suffix are alphabetically greater than their versions",
+			version:    "1.0.2zg",
+			constraint: " < 1.0.2zh",
+			satisfied:  true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "candidates with pre suffix are sorted numerically",
+			version:    "1.0.2pre1",
+			constraint: " < 1.0.2pre2",
+			satisfied:  true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "candidates with letter suffix and r0 are alphabetically greater than their versions",
+			version:    "1.0.2k-r0",
+			constraint: " < 1.0.2l-r0",
+			satisfied:  true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "openssl version with letter suffix and r0 are alphabetically greater than their versions",
+			version:    "1.0.2k-r0",
+			constraint: ">= 1.0.2",
+			satisfied:  true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "openssl versions with letter suffix and r0 are alphabetically greater than their versions and compared equally to other lettered versions",
+			version:    "1.0.2k-r0",
+			constraint: ">= 1.0.2, < 1.0.2m",
+			satisfied:  true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "openssl pre2 is still considered less than release",
+			version:    "1.1.1-pre2",
+			constraint: "> 1.1.1-pre1, < 1.1.1",
+			satisfied:  true,
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "major version releases are less than their subsequent patch releases with letter suffixes",
+			version:    "1.1.1",
+			constraint: "> 1.1.1-a",
+			satisfied:  true,
+		},
 	}
 
 	for _, test := range tests {
@@ -275,3 +353,20 @@ func TestFuzzyConstraintSatisfaction(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestPseudoSemverPattern(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name    string
+		version string
+		valid   bool
+	}{
+		{name: "rc candidates are valid semver", version: "1.2.3-rc1", valid: true},
+		{name: "rc candidates with no dash are valid semver", version: "1.2.3rc1", valid: true},
+	}
+
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		t.Run(test.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			assert.Equal(t, test.valid, pseudoSemverPattern.MatchString(test.version))
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/grype/version/semantic_constraint_test.go b/grype/version/semantic_constraint_test.go
index 42f36711c80..43dae2f2c42 100644
--- a/grype/version/semantic_constraint_test.go
+++ b/grype/version/semantic_constraint_test.go
@@ -70,6 +70,12 @@ func TestVersionSemantic(t *testing.T) {
 		{version: "1.0.0-beta.11", constraint: "< 1.0.0-rc.1", satisfied: true},
 		{version: "1.0.0-rc.1", constraint: "> 1.0.0", satisfied: false},
 		{version: "1.0.0-rc.1", constraint: "< 1.0.0", satisfied: true},
+		{version: "1.20rc1", constraint: " = 1.20.0-rc1", satisfied: true},
+		{version: "1.21rc2", constraint: " = 1.21.1", satisfied: false},
+		{version: "1.21rc2", constraint: " = 1.21", satisfied: false},
+		{version: "1.21rc2", constraint: " = 1.21-rc2", satisfied: true},
+		{version: "1.21rc2", constraint: " = 1.21.0-rc2", satisfied: true},
+		{version: "1.21rc2", constraint: " = 1.21.0rc2", satisfied: true},
 		{version: "1.0.0-alpha.1", constraint: "> 1.0.0-alpha.1", satisfied: false},
 		{version: "1.0.0-alpha.2", constraint: "> 1.0.0-alpha.1", satisfied: true},
 		{version: "1.2.0-beta", constraint: ">1.0, <2.0", satisfied: true},