diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/update.py b/src/calibre/gui2/update.py
index dcf45bc586..53fe4135a1 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/update.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/update.py
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@ class UpdateMixin(object):
 
     def update_found(self, calibre_version, number_of_plugin_updates, force=False, no_show_popup=False):
         self.last_newest_calibre_version = calibre_version
-        has_calibre_update = calibre_version != NO_CALIBRE_UPDATE
+        has_calibre_update = calibre_version != NO_CALIBRE_UPDATE and calibre_version[0] > 0
         has_plugin_updates = number_of_plugin_updates > 0
         self.plugin_update_found(number_of_plugin_updates)
         version_url = as_hex_unicode(msgpack_dumps((calibre_version, number_of_plugin_updates)))