Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) with ring sideroblasts are hematopoietic stem cell disorders with erythroid dysplasia and mutations in the splicing factor gene. Patients with MDS with mutations often accumulate excessive tissue iron, even in the absence of transfusions, but the mechanisms that are responsible for their parenchymal iron overload are unknown. Body iron content, tissue distribution, and the supply of iron for erythropoiesis are controlled by the hormone hepcidin, which is regulated by erythroblasts through secretion of the erythroid hormone erythroferrone (ERFE). Here, we identified an alternative transcript in patients with MDS with the mutation. Induction of this transcript in primary -mutated bone marrow erythroblasts generated a variant protein that maintained the capacity to suppress hepcidin transcription. Plasma concentrations of ERFE were higher in patients with MDS with an gene mutation than in patients with wild-type MDS. Thus, hepcidin suppression by a variant ERFE is likely responsible for the increased iron loading in patients with -mutated MDS, suggesting that ERFE could be targeted to prevent iron-mediated toxicity. The expression of the variant transcript that was restricted to -mutated erythroblasts decreased in lenalidomide-responsive anemic patients, identifying variant ERFE as a specific biomarker of clonal erythropoiesis.