diff --git a/vcs-versioning/changelog.d/523.bugfix.md b/vcs-versioning/changelog.d/523.bugfix.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..aa2ef635
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vcs-versioning/changelog.d/523.bugfix.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+The ``semver-pep440`` and ``semver-pep440-release-branch`` version schemes now
+correctly handle ``.dev0`` tags and pre-release tags. Exact checkout on a tag
+returns the tag as-is (``2.0.dev0`` stays ``2.0.dev0``, ``1.0.0rc1`` stays
+``1.0.0rc1``). Non-exact ``.dev0`` tags are treated as explicit version anchors,
+producing ``X.Y.0.devN`` instead of incorrectly bumping past the anchored version.
diff --git a/vcs-versioning/src/vcs_versioning/_version_schemes/_standard.py b/vcs-versioning/src/vcs_versioning/_version_schemes/_standard.py
index e96f2bd3..f88a00b2 100644
--- a/vcs-versioning/src/vcs_versioning/_version_schemes/_standard.py
+++ b/vcs-versioning/src/vcs_versioning/_version_schemes/_standard.py
@@ -44,6 +44,11 @@ def guess_next_dev_version(version: ScmVersion) -> str:
 def guess_next_simple_semver(
     version: ScmVersion, retain: int, increment: bool = True
 ) -> str:
+    if increment and getattr(version.tag, "dev", None) == 0:
+        parts = list(version.tag.release)
+        while len(parts) < SEMVER_LEN:
+            parts.append(0)
+        return ".".join(str(i) for i in parts)
     parts = list(version.tag.release[:retain])
     while len(parts) < retain:
         parts.append(0)
@@ -56,15 +61,12 @@ def guess_next_simple_semver(
 
 def simplified_semver_version(version: ScmVersion) -> str:
     if version.exact:
-        return guess_next_simple_semver(version, retain=SEMVER_LEN, increment=False)
-    elif version.branch is not None and "feature" in version.branch:
+        return version.format_with("{tag}")
+    if version.branch is not None and "feature" in version.branch:
         return version.format_next_version(
             guess_next_simple_semver, retain=SEMVER_MINOR
         )
-    else:
-        return version.format_next_version(
-            guess_next_simple_semver, retain=SEMVER_PATCH
-        )
+    return version.format_next_version(guess_next_simple_semver, retain=SEMVER_PATCH)
 
 
 def release_branch_semver_version(version: ScmVersion) -> str:
diff --git a/vcs-versioning/testing_vcs/test_version.py b/vcs-versioning/testing_vcs/test_version.py
index a1a27bca..1bf710aa 100644
--- a/vcs-versioning/testing_vcs/test_version.py
+++ b/vcs-versioning/testing_vcs/test_version.py
@@ -27,7 +27,9 @@
     ("version", "expected_next"),
     [
         pytest.param(meta("1.0.0", config=c), "1.0.0", id="exact"),
-        pytest.param(meta("1.0", config=c), "1.0.0", id="short_tag"),
+        pytest.param(meta("1.0", config=c), "1.0", id="short_tag"),
+        pytest.param(meta("1.0.0rc1", config=c), "1.0.0rc1", id="exact_rc"),
+        pytest.param(meta("2.0.dev0", config=c), "2.0.dev0", id="exact_dev0"),
         pytest.param(
             meta("1.0.0", distance=2, branch="default", config=c),
             "1.0.1.dev2",
@@ -58,6 +60,21 @@
             "1.0.1.dev2",
             id="non-normalized-allowed",
         ),
+        pytest.param(
+            meta("2.0.dev0", distance=5, branch="default", config=c),
+            "2.0.0.dev5",
+            id="dev0_anchor_default_branch",
+        ),
+        pytest.param(
+            meta("2.0.dev0", distance=5, branch="feature/fun", config=c),
+            "2.0.0.dev5",
+            id="dev0_anchor_feature_branch",
+        ),
+        pytest.param(
+            meta("3.0.dev0", distance=1, branch="default", config=c),
+            "3.0.0.dev1",
+            id="dev0_anchor_single_commit",
+        ),
     ],
 )
 def test_next_semver(version: ScmVersion, expected_next: str) -> None:
@@ -69,6 +86,8 @@ def test_next_semver(version: ScmVersion, expected_next: str) -> None:
     ("version", "expected_next"),
     [
         pytest.param(meta("1.0.0", config=c), "1.0.0", id="exact"),
+        pytest.param(meta("2.0.dev0", config=c), "2.0.dev0", id="exact_dev0"),
+        pytest.param(meta("1.0.0rc1", config=c), "1.0.0rc1", id="exact_rc"),
         pytest.param(
             meta("1.0.0", distance=2, branch="master", config=c),
             "1.1.0.dev2",
@@ -99,6 +118,16 @@ def test_next_semver(version: ScmVersion, expected_next: str) -> None:
             "1.1.0.dev2",
             id="false_positive_release_branch",
         ),
+        pytest.param(
+            meta("2.0.dev0", distance=5, branch="master", config=c),
+            "2.0.0.dev5",
+            id="dev0_anchor_development_branch",
+        ),
+        pytest.param(
+            meta("2.0.dev0", distance=5, branch="release-2.0", config=c),
+            "2.0.dev5",
+            id="dev0_anchor_release_branch",
+        ),
     ],
 )
 def test_next_release_branch_semver(version: ScmVersion, expected_next: str) -> None: