diff --git a/spacy/cli/download.py b/spacy/cli/download.py
index 4ea9a8f0e..b7de88729 100644
--- a/spacy/cli/download.py
+++ b/spacy/cli/download.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import typer
 from ._util import app, Arg, Opt, WHEEL_SUFFIX, SDIST_SUFFIX
 from .. import about
 from ..util import is_package, get_minor_version, run_command
+from ..util import is_prerelease_version
 from ..errors import OLD_MODEL_SHORTCUTS
 
 
@@ -74,7 +75,10 @@ def download(model: str, direct: bool = False, sdist: bool = False, *pip_args) -
 
 
 def get_compatibility() -> dict:
-    version = get_minor_version(about.__version__)
+    if is_prerelease_version(about.__version__):
+        version: Optional[str] = about.__version__
+    else:
+        version = get_minor_version(about.__version__)
     r = requests.get(about.__compatibility__)
     if r.status_code != 200:
         msg.fail(
diff --git a/spacy/util.py b/spacy/util.py
index 4f21d618a..d170fc15b 100644
--- a/spacy/util.py
+++ b/spacy/util.py
@@ -795,6 +795,15 @@ def get_model_lower_version(constraint: str) -> Optional[str]:
     return None
 
 
+def is_prerelease_version(version: str) -> bool:
+    """Check whether a version is a prerelease version.
+
+    version (str): The version, e.g. "3.0.0.dev1".
+    RETURNS (bool): Whether the version is a prerelease version.
+    """
+    return Version(version).is_prerelease
+
+
 def get_base_version(version: str) -> str:
     """Generate the base version without any prerelease identifiers.