diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/classifier_cataloger_test.go b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/classifier_cataloger_test.go
index 2d6b7a4ea..f2e4fe207 100644
--- a/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/classifier_cataloger_test.go
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/classifier_cataloger_test.go
@@ -699,6 +699,17 @@ func Test_Cataloger_PositiveCases(t *testing.T) {
 				Metadata:  metadata("go-binary-hint"),
 			},
 		},
+		{
+			// note: this is for compatability with dev version of golang tip image, which resolves the issue #3681
+			logicalFixture: "go-version-hint/1.25/any",
+			expected: pkg.Package{
+				Name:      "go",
+				Version:   "1.25-d524e1e",
+				PURL:      "pkg:generic/go@1.25-d524e1e",
+				Locations: locations("VERSION.cache"),
+				Metadata:  metadata("go-binary-hint"),
+			},
+		},
 		{
 			// note: this is testing BUSYBOX which is typically through a link to "[" (in this case a symlink but in
 			// practice this is often a hard link).
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/classifiers.go b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/classifiers.go
index f0fff7a85..dc3ff40f3 100644
--- a/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/classifiers.go
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/classifiers.go
@@ -171,9 +171,9 @@ func DefaultClassifiers() []Classifier {
 		},
 		{
 			Class:    "go-binary-hint",
-			FileGlob: "**/VERSION",
+			FileGlob: "**/VERSION*",
 			EvidenceMatcher: FileContentsVersionMatcher(
-				`(?m)go(?P<version>[0-9]+\.[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+|beta[0-9]+|alpha[0-9]+|rc[0-9]+)?)`),
+				`(?m)go(?P<version>[0-9]+\.[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+|beta[0-9]+|alpha[0-9]+|rc[0-9]+)?(-[0-9a-f]{7})?)`),
 			Package: "go",
 			PURL:    mustPURL("pkg:generic/go@version"),
 			CPEs:    singleCPE("cpe:2.3:a:golang:go:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*", cpe.NVDDictionaryLookupSource),
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/test-fixtures/classifiers/snippets/go-version-hint/1.25/any/VERSION.cache b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/test-fixtures/classifiers/snippets/go-version-hint/1.25/any/VERSION.cache
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5ac1e7aad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/test-fixtures/classifiers/snippets/go-version-hint/1.25/any/VERSION.cache
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+devel go1.25-d524e1e Sun Feb 16 07:23:13 2025 -0800
+3devel go1.25-d524e1e Sun Feb 16 07:23:13 2025 -0800
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/test-fixtures/config.yaml b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/test-fixtures/config.yaml
index f421cdfd3..b4a3bcc71 100644
--- a/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/test-fixtures/config.yaml
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/binary/test-fixtures/config.yaml
@@ -130,6 +130,12 @@ from-images:
     paths:
       - /usr/local/go/bin/go
 
+  - version: 1.25
+    images:
+      - ref: golang:tip@sha256:319b219d4df413ef30123a7f69bdf00032d9841af58d7b0ef6971542b29875d5
+        platform: linux/amd64
+    paths:
+      - /usr/local/go/bin/go
   # TODO: this is no longer available from dockerhub! (the snippet is vital)
   - version: 1.5.14
     images: