diff --git a/src/plugins.ts b/src/plugins.ts
index 79efe041..8bcfd7d2 100644
--- a/src/plugins.ts
+++ b/src/plugins.ts
@@ -81,6 +81,22 @@ function notifyUser(plugin: Config, output: Output): void {
   }
 }
 
+export function normaliseTag(jitPlugins: Record<string, string>, modifiedPlugins: Plugin[], p: Interfaces.UserPlugin) {
+  // a not valid tag indicates that it's a dist-tag like 'latest'
+  if (!valid(p.tag)) return `${p.name}@${p.tag}`
+
+  if (p.tag && valid(p.tag) && jitPlugins[p.name] && valid(jitPlugins[p.name]) && gt(p.tag, jitPlugins[p.name])) {
+    // The user has installed a version of the JIT plugin that is newer than the one
+    // specified by the root plugin's JIT configuration. In this case, we want to
+    // keep the version installed by the user.
+    return `${p.name}@${p.tag}`
+  }
+
+  const tag = jitPlugins[p.name] ?? p.tag
+  modifiedPlugins.push({...p, tag})
+  return `${p.name}@${tag}`
+}
+
 export default class Plugins {
   public config: Interfaces.Config
   public readonly npm: NPM
@@ -379,21 +395,7 @@ export default class Plugins {
     const modifiedPlugins: Plugin[] = []
     if (npmPlugins.length > 0) {
       await this.npm.install(
-        npmPlugins.map((p) => {
-          // a not valid tag indicates that it's a dist-tag like 'latest'
-          if (!valid(p.tag)) return `${p.name}@${p.tag}`
-
-          if (p.tag && valid(p.tag) && jitPlugins[p.name] && gt(p.tag, jitPlugins[p.name])) {
-            // The user has installed a version of the JIT plugin that is newer than the one
-            // specified by the root plugin's JIT configuration. In this case, we want to
-            // keep the version installed by the user.
-            return `${p.name}@${p.tag}`
-          }
-
-          const tag = jitPlugins[p.name] ?? p.tag
-          modifiedPlugins.push({...p, tag})
-          return `${p.name}@${tag}`
-        }),
+        npmPlugins.map((p) => normaliseTag(jitPlugins, modifiedPlugins, p)),
         {cwd: this.config.dataDir, logLevel: this.logLevel, prod: true},
       )
     }
diff --git a/test/plugins.test.ts b/test/plugins.test.ts
index 60c9a323..f853053f 100644
--- a/test/plugins.test.ts
+++ b/test/plugins.test.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import {expect} from 'chai'
 import {join} from 'node:path'
 import {createSandbox, SinonSandbox, SinonSpy} from 'sinon'
 
-import Plugins from '../src/plugins.js'
+import Plugins, {normaliseTag} from '../src/plugins.js'
 
 describe('Plugins', () => {
   let sandbox: SinonSandbox
@@ -189,4 +189,65 @@ describe('Plugins', () => {
       expect(saveStub.calledWithExactly(userPJSON)).to.be.true
     })
   })
+
+  describe('normaliseTag', () => {
+    it('should keep invalid semver tag', async () => {
+      const cases: {
+        expected: string
+        expectedModifiedPluginsLength?: number
+        jitPlugins: Record<string, string>
+        modifiedPlugins: (Interfaces.LinkedPlugin | Interfaces.UserPlugin)[]
+        tag: string
+      }[] = [
+        {
+          expected: 'latest',
+          jitPlugins: {},
+          modifiedPlugins: [],
+          tag: 'latest',
+        },
+        {
+          expected: 'latest',
+          jitPlugins: {'@oclif/plugin-user': '*'},
+          modifiedPlugins: [],
+          tag: 'latest',
+        },
+        {
+          expected: '0.0.2',
+          jitPlugins: {'@oclif/plugin-user': '0.0.1'},
+          modifiedPlugins: [],
+          tag: '0.0.2',
+        },
+        {
+          expected: '0.0.2',
+          expectedModifiedPluginsLength: 1,
+          jitPlugins: {'@oclif/plugin-user': '0.0.2'},
+          modifiedPlugins: [],
+          tag: '0.0.1',
+        },
+        {
+          expected: '0.0.1',
+          expectedModifiedPluginsLength: 1,
+          jitPlugins: {'@oclif/plugin-user': '0.0.1'},
+          modifiedPlugins: [],
+          tag: '0.0.1',
+        },
+        {
+          expected: 'latest',
+          expectedModifiedPluginsLength: 1,
+          jitPlugins: {'@oclif/plugin-user': 'latest'},
+          modifiedPlugins: [],
+          tag: '0.0.1',
+        },
+      ]
+      for (const c of cases) {
+        const actual = normaliseTag(c.jitPlugins, c.modifiedPlugins, {
+          name: '@oclif/plugin-user',
+          tag: c.tag,
+          type: 'user',
+        })
+        expect(actual).to.equal(`@oclif/plugin-user@${c.expected}`)
+        expect(c.modifiedPlugins).to.lengthOf(c.expectedModifiedPluginsLength || 0)
+      }
+    })
+  })
 })