diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5473a97..9affe34 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,7 +5,15 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/)
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).
 
-## [2.0.0] 2025-06-18
+## [2.0.0-alpha.1] 2026-02-12
+
+### Fixed
+
+- Null-coalescing operators replaced with PS5.1-compatible syntax in
+  Write-PlasterLog to fix PowerShell 5.1 compatibility
+  ([#442](https://github.com/PowerShellOrg/Plaster/issues/442))
+
+## [2.0.0-alpha] 2025-06-18
 
 ### Added
 
diff --git a/Plaster/Plaster.psd1 b/Plaster/Plaster.psd1
index 0e40228..8b5932c 100644
--- a/Plaster/Plaster.psd1
+++ b/Plaster/Plaster.psd1
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
     # PSData hashtable with additional module metadata used by PowerShell.
     PrivateData = @{
         PSData = @{
-            Prerelease = 'alpha'
+            Prerelease   = 'alpha.1'
 
             # Tags applied to this module. These help with module discovery in online galleries.
             Tags = @('Plaster', 'CodeGenerator', 'Scaffold', 'Template', 'JSON', 'PowerShell7')
diff --git a/Plaster/Private/Write-PlasterLog.ps1 b/Plaster/Private/Write-PlasterLog.ps1
index 39d337c..d4ea57b 100644
--- a/Plaster/Private/Write-PlasterLog.ps1
+++ b/Plaster/Private/Write-PlasterLog.ps1
@@ -49,9 +49,9 @@ function Write-PlasterLog {
         'Debug'       = 4
     }
 
-    $currentLogLevel = $script:LogLevel ?? 'Information'
-    $currentLevelValue = $logLevels[$currentLogLevel] ?? 2
-    $messageLevelValue = $logLevels[$Level] ?? 2
+    $currentLogLevel = if ($null -ne $script:LogLevel) { $script:LogLevel } else { 'Information' }
+    $currentLevelValue = if ($null -ne $logLevels[$currentLogLevel]) { $logLevels[$currentLogLevel] } else { 2 }
+    $messageLevelValue = if ($null -ne $logLevels[$Level]) { $logLevels[$Level] } else { 2 }
 
     if ($messageLevelValue -gt $currentLevelValue) {
         return
diff --git a/tests/Manifest.tests.ps1 b/tests/Manifest.tests.ps1
index 4792558..6d6ae56 100644
--- a/tests/Manifest.tests.ps1
+++ b/tests/Manifest.tests.ps1
@@ -4,8 +4,10 @@ BeforeAll {
         . $path -Task Build
     }
     # NEW: Pre-Specify RegEx Matching Patterns
-    $gitTagMatchRegEx = 'tag:\s?.(\d+(\.\d+)*)' # NOTE - was 'tag:\s*(\d+(?:\.\d+)*)' previously
-    $changelogTagMatchRegEx = "^##\s\[(?<Version>(\d+\.){1,3}\d+)\]"
+    # Matches semantic versioning with optional pre-release and build metadata
+    # Examples: 1.0.0, 2.0.0-alpha, 2.0.0-alpha.1, 2.0.0+build.123
+    $gitTagMatchRegEx = 'tag:\s?.(\d+(?:\.\d+)*)(?:-[0-9A-Za-z.-]+)?(?:\+[0-9A-Za-z.-]+)?'
+    $changelogTagMatchRegEx = "^##\s\[(?<Version>(\d+\.){2}\d+)(?:-[0-9A-Za-z.-]+)?(?:\+[0-9A-Za-z.-]+)?\]"
 
     $moduleName = $env:BHProjectName
     $manifest = Import-PowerShellDataFile -Path $env:BHPSModuleManifest