diff --git a/scripts/docker/install/rootless/rootless_docker.sh b/scripts/docker/install/rootless/rootless_docker.sh
index 96416d8..bc244bc 100755
--- a/scripts/docker/install/rootless/rootless_docker.sh
+++ b/scripts/docker/install/rootless/rootless_docker.sh
@@ -35,9 +35,12 @@ installDockerRootless()
             checkSuccess "Installing slirp4netns"
         else
             isNotice "slirp4netns is already installed"
-            installed_version=$(slirp4netns --version | awk '{print $2}')
+            # `slirp4netns --version` prints several lines (version, commit, libslirp,
+            # SLIRP_CONFIG_VERSION_MAX); read only the first line and take the version field.
+            installed_version=$(slirp4netns --version | head -n1 | awk '{print $3}')
             latest_version=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/rootless-containers/slirp4netns/releases/latest | grep tag_name | cut -d '"' -f 4)
-            if [[ "$installed_version" != "$latest_version" ]]; then
+            latest_version=${latest_version#v}  # GitHub tags are vX.Y.Z; strip the v to compare
+            if [[ -n "$latest_version" && "$installed_version" != "$latest_version" ]]; then
                 isNotice "slirp4netns version $installed_version is outdated."
                 isNotice "Installing version $latest_version..."
                 local result; result=$(runSystem apt-get update)