diff --git a/src/sentry/models/releases/util.py b/src/sentry/models/releases/util.py
index be9807bc0f71b1..16b154a6c5b4f6 100644
--- a/src/sentry/models/releases/util.py
+++ b/src/sentry/models/releases/util.py
@@ -81,48 +81,32 @@ def filter_by_semver_build(
                 )
             )
         if isinstance(build, str):
-            if build.isdecimal() and validate_bigint(int(build)):
-                qs = getattr(qs, query_func)(**{f"build_number__{operator}": int(build)})
+            build = [build]
+
+        build_number_filters = Q()
+        build_code_filters = Q()
+        for b in build:
+            if b.isdecimal() and validate_bigint(int(b)):
+                build_number_filters |= Q(**{f"build_number__{operator}": [int(b)]})
             else:
-                if not build or build.endswith("*"):
-                    qs = getattr(qs, query_func)(build_code__startswith=build[:-1])
-                else:
-                    qs = getattr(qs, query_func)(build_code=build)
-
-            return qs
-        else:
-            build_number_filters = Q()
-            build_code_filters = Q()
-            for b in build:
-                if b.isdecimal() and validate_bigint(int(b)):
-                    build_number_filters |= Q(**{f"build_number__{operator}": [int(b)]})
+                if not b or b.endswith("*"):
+                    build_code_filters |= Q(build_code__startswith=b[:-1])
                 else:
-                    if not b or b.endswith("*"):
-                        build_code_filters |= Q(build_code__startswith=b[:-1])
-                    else:
-                        build_code_filters |= Q(build_code=b)
-
-            if build_number_filters:
-                qs = getattr(qs, query_func)(build_number_filters)
-            if build_code_filters:
-                qs = getattr(qs, query_func)(build_code_filters)
-
-            # Handle the case where operator is 'in' separately
-            if operator == "in":
-                return qs.filter(
-                    Q(
-                        build_number__in=[
-                            int(b) for b in build if b.isdecimal() and validate_bigint(int(b))
-                        ]
-                    )
-                    | Q(
-                        build_code__in=[
-                            b for b in build if not b.isdecimal() or not validate_bigint(int(b))
-                        ]
-                    )
-                )
-            else:
-                return qs
+                    build_code_filters |= Q(build_code=b)
+
+        if build_number_filters:
+            qs = getattr(qs, query_func)(build_number_filters)
+        if build_code_filters:
+            qs = getattr(qs, query_func)(build_code_filters)
+
+        return qs.filter(
+            Q(build_number__in=[int(b) for b in build if b.isdecimal() and validate_bigint(int(b))])
+            | Q(
+                build_code__in=[
+                    b for b in build if not b.isdecimal() or not validate_bigint(int(b))
+                ]
+            )
+        )
 
     def filter_by_semver(
         self,
diff --git a/src/sentry/search/events/datasets/filter_aliases.py b/src/sentry/search/events/datasets/filter_aliases.py
index fd9b7c17ce9fc8..19a6ffd8ff4a64 100644
--- a/src/sentry/search/events/datasets/filter_aliases.py
+++ b/src/sentry/search/events/datasets/filter_aliases.py
@@ -229,6 +229,8 @@ def semver_filter_converter(
                 final_operator = Op.NOT_IN
                 versions = exclude_versions
     else:
+        # TODO: when implementing NOT IN, improve this block to contain the above negation logic,
+        # and potentially simplify by making single version string into a list with length 1
         final_operator = Op.IN
         versions = []
         for v in version: