diff --git a/alpine/distributionscanner.go b/alpine/distributionscanner.go
index b8ad4e8d4..1f95bc020 100644
--- a/alpine/distributionscanner.go
+++ b/alpine/distributionscanner.go
@@ -26,11 +26,10 @@ const (
 	scannerName    = "alpine"
 	scannerVersion = "3"
 	scannerKind    = "distribution"
-)
 
-const (
 	issuePath = `etc/issue`
 
+	edgeVersion    = `edge`
 	edgePrettyName = `Alpine Linux edge`
 )
 
@@ -114,7 +113,7 @@ func readOSRelease(ctx context.Context, sys fs.FS) (*claircore.Distribution, err
 		}
 		v := vid[:idx]
 		if m[`PRETTY_NAME`] == edgePrettyName {
-			v = "edge"
+			v = edgeVersion
 		}
 		return &claircore.Distribution{
 			Name:    m[`NAME`],
@@ -147,7 +146,7 @@ func readIssue(ctx context.Context, sys fs.FS) (*claircore.Distribution, error)
 			return &claircore.Distribution{
 				Name:       `Alpine Linux`,
 				DID:        `alpine`,
-				Version:    `edge`,
+				Version:    edgeVersion,
 				PrettyName: edgePrettyName,
 			}, nil
 		}
diff --git a/alpine/parser_test.go b/alpine/parser_test.go
index c13df0f6a..c03cf30ed 100644
--- a/alpine/parser_test.go
+++ b/alpine/parser_test.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/quay/claircore"
 )
 
-var dist310 = release{3, 10}.Distribution()
+var dist310 = stableRelease{3, 10}.Distribution()
 
 var v3_10CommunityTruncatedVulns = []*claircore.Vulnerability{
 	{
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ func TestParser(t *testing.T) {
 		expected []*claircore.Vulnerability
 	}{
 		{
-			release:  release{3, 10},
+			release:  stableRelease{3, 10},
 			repo:     "community",
 			testFile: "fetch/v3.10/community.json",
 			expected: v3_10CommunityTruncatedVulns,
diff --git a/alpine/release.go b/alpine/release.go
index a5f103a43..83a98eb03 100644
--- a/alpine/release.go
+++ b/alpine/release.go
@@ -12,8 +12,22 @@ import (
 // to normalize detected distributions into major.minor releases and
 // parse vulnerabilities into major.minor releases
 
-// release is a particular release of the Alpine linux distribution
-type release [2]int
+// release represents a particular release of the Alpine Linux distribution
+type release interface {
+	Distribution() *claircore.Distribution
+	String() string
+}
+
+var (
+	_ release = (*edgeRelease)(nil)
+	_ release = (*stableRelease)(nil)
+)
+
+// edgeRelease is the Alpine Linux edge distribution.
+type edgeRelease struct{}
+
+// stableRelease is a particular stable release of the Alpine Linux distribution.
+type stableRelease [2]int
 
 // Common os-release fields applicable for *claircore.Distribution usage.
 const (
@@ -21,9 +35,26 @@ const (
 	distID   = "alpine"
 )
 
-var relMap sync.Map
+var (
+	relMap sync.Map
+
+	edgeDist = &claircore.Distribution{
+		Name:       distName,
+		DID:        distID,
+		VersionID:  edgeVersion,
+		PrettyName: edgePrettyName,
+	}
+)
+
+func (edgeRelease) Distribution() *claircore.Distribution {
+	return edgeDist
+}
+
+func (edgeRelease) String() string {
+	return edgeVersion
+}
 
-func (r release) Distribution() *claircore.Distribution {
+func (r stableRelease) Distribution() *claircore.Distribution {
 	// Dirty hack to keyify the release structure.
 	k := int64(r[0]<<32) | int64(r[1])
 	v, ok := relMap.Load(k)
@@ -38,4 +69,4 @@ func (r release) Distribution() *claircore.Distribution {
 	return v.(*claircore.Distribution)
 }
 
-func (r release) String() string { return fmt.Sprintf("v%d.%d", r[0], r[1]) }
+func (r stableRelease) String() string { return fmt.Sprintf("v%d.%d", r[0], r[1]) }
diff --git a/alpine/updater.go b/alpine/updater.go
index 1dc9706f1..c5951cb9a 100644
--- a/alpine/updater.go
+++ b/alpine/updater.go
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ Major:
 		}
 	Minor:
 		for ; ; min++ {
-			r := release{maj, min}
+			r := stableRelease{maj, min}
 			u, err := f.base.Parse(r.String() + "/")
 			if err != nil {
 				return s, fmt.Errorf("alpine: unable to construct request: %w", err)
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ Major:
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	for _, r := range todo {
+	for _, r := range append(todo, edgeRelease{}) {
 		for _, n := range []string{`main`, `community`} {
 			u, err := f.base.Parse(path.Join(r.String(), n+".json"))
 			if err != nil {
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ Major:
 			}
 			s.Add(&updater{
 				repo:    n,
-				release: r, // NB: Safe to copy because it's an array.
+				release: r, // NB: Safe to copy because it's an array or empty struct.
 				url:     u.String(),
 			})
 		}