diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c427308..97dee87 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 # laranail/env-kit
 
-[![Latest version on Packagist](https://img.shields.io/packagist/v/laranail/env-kit.svg)](https://packagist.org/packages/laranail/env-kit)
 [![Tests](https://github.com/laranail/env-kit/actions/workflows/ci.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/laranail/env-kit/actions/workflows/ci.yml)
 [![License: MIT](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-blue.svg)](LICENSE)
 
+`laranail/env-kit` is not published to Packagist, so there is no registry-version badge to show — see [Install](#install).
+
 > A view-less Laravel engine for reading and **safely editing** `.env` files — one transactional, atomic, guarded, audited commit path behind a programmatic API, a CLI, and an interactive TUI.
 
 PHP `^8.4.1` on Laravel `^13`. It is the engine of the **EnvKit** family; the [`env-kit-webui`](https://opensource.simtabi.com/documentation/laranail/env-kit-webui/) companion drives it for the web.