diff --git a/src/main/resources/static/js/githubVersion.js b/src/main/resources/static/js/githubVersion.js
index b312fd85..0fa2f361 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/static/js/githubVersion.js
+++ b/src/main/resources/static/js/githubVersion.js
@@ -20,10 +20,35 @@ async function getLatestReleaseVersion() {
   const url = "https://api.github.com/repos/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF/releases/latest";
   try {
     const response = await fetch(url);
-    const data = await response.json();
-    return data.tag_name ? data.tag_name.substring(1) : "";
+    if (response.status === 200) {
+      const data = await response.json();
+      return data.tag_name ? data.tag_name.substring(1) : "";
+    } else {
+      // If the status is not 200, try to get the version from build.gradle
+      return await getCurrentVersionFromBypass();
+    }
   } catch (error) {
-    console.error("Failed to fetch latest version:", error);
+    console.error("Failed to fetch latest version from GitHub:", error);
+    // If an error occurs, try to get the version from build.gradle
+    return await getCurrentVersionFromBypass();
+  }
+}
+
+async function getCurrentVersionFromBypass() {
+  const url = "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF/main/build.gradle";
+  try {
+    const response = await fetch(url);
+    if (response.status === 200) {
+      const text = await response.text();
+      const versionRegex = /version\s*=\s*['"](\d+\.\d+\.\d+)['"]/;
+      const match = versionRegex.exec(text);
+      if (match) {
+        return match[1];
+      }
+    }
+    throw new Error("Version number not found");
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.error("Failed to fetch latest version from build.gradle:", error);
     return ""; // Return an empty string if the fetch fails
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/main/resources/templates/fragments/navbar.html b/src/main/resources/templates/fragments/navbar.html
index 0ddc0362..756be79d 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/templates/fragments/navbar.html
+++ b/src/main/resources/templates/fragments/navbar.html
@@ -403,7 +403,7 @@
 
             <a href="swagger-ui/index.html" class="btn btn-sm btn-outline-primary mx-1" role="button"
               target="_blank">API</a>
-            <a th:if="${@shouldShow}" href="https://github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF/releases"
+            <a href="https://github.com/Stirling-Tools/Stirling-PDF/releases"
               class="btn btn-sm btn-outline-primary mx-1" id="update-btn" th:utext="#{settings.update}" role="button"
               target="_blank"></a>
           </div>