diff --git a/lib/datasource/index.js b/lib/datasource/index.js
index b6134555c6b97263a3447c0c43c481d4d2c1d4a8..ced1e747dba89361394fa245030571915817cb93 100644
--- a/lib/datasource/index.js
+++ b/lib/datasource/index.js
@@ -55,11 +55,6 @@ async function getPkgReleases(config) {
     res.releases = res.releases
       .filter(release => isVersion(release.version))
       .sort(sortReleases);
-    if (parse(config.purl).qualifiers.normalize === 'true') {
-      for (const release of res.releases) {
-        release.version = isVersion(release.version);
-      }
-    }
   }
   return res;
 }
diff --git a/test/datasource/__snapshots__/github.spec.js.snap b/test/datasource/__snapshots__/github.spec.js.snap
index 6bb33fe0edb814d2528d8fadb5c45885c5925450..cf25900a7e34b2a7fa1950e30e212527313c9fd0 100644
--- a/test/datasource/__snapshots__/github.spec.js.snap
+++ b/test/datasource/__snapshots__/github.spec.js.snap
@@ -1,21 +1,5 @@
 // Jest Snapshot v1, https://goo.gl/fbAQLP
 
-exports[`datasource/github getPkgReleases returns cleaned tags 1`] = `
-Object {
-  "releases": Array [
-    Object {
-      "gitRef": "1.0.0",
-      "version": "1.0.0",
-    },
-    Object {
-      "gitRef": "v1.1.0",
-      "version": "1.1.0",
-    },
-  ],
-  "sourceUrl": "https://github.com/some/dep",
-}
-`;
-
 exports[`datasource/github getPkgReleases returns releases 1`] = `
 Object {
   "releases": Array [
diff --git a/test/datasource/github.spec.js b/test/datasource/github.spec.js
index e17111ba732119c48023da4af5e25fa3073ac2d1..fdc43995b8eae1659ed4e6991fdcd66cbddd2179 100644
--- a/test/datasource/github.spec.js
+++ b/test/datasource/github.spec.js
@@ -62,23 +62,6 @@ describe('datasource/github', () => {
   });
   describe('getPkgReleases', () => {
     beforeAll(() => global.renovateCache.rmAll());
-    it('returns cleaned tags', async () => {
-      const body = [
-        { name: 'a' },
-        { name: 'v' },
-        { name: '1.0.0' },
-        { name: 'v1.1.0' },
-      ];
-      ghGot.mockReturnValueOnce({ headers: {}, body });
-      const res = await datasource.getPkgReleases({
-        purl: 'pkg:github/some/dep?normalize=true',
-      });
-      expect(res).toMatchSnapshot();
-      expect(res.releases).toHaveLength(2);
-      expect(
-        res.releases.find(release => release.version === '1.1.0')
-      ).toBeDefined();
-    });
     it('returns releases', async () => {
       const body = [
         { tag_name: 'a' },