Issue with using a deleted version number

Greetings.  I've come across an issue where when I have a release created in a project, delete the release, and then later try to add another release using the same version number I get an error:

You need to choose a Version Number that's not already been used

This proves difficult for us as our company cycles through version numbers every year.  Is there any way to fully remove a release and make the version number available again?