diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 1834058efca54..e53d146647c9d 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ ifeq ($(OS),WINNT)
 endif	
 	$(INSTALL_F) $(build_includedir)/uv* $(DESTDIR)$(includedir)/julia
 endif
-	$(INSTALL_F) src/julia.h src/options.h src/support/*.h $(DESTDIR)$(includedir)/julia
+	$(INSTALL_F) src/julia.h src/julia_version.h src/options.h src/support/*.h $(DESTDIR)$(includedir)/julia
 	# Copy system image
 	$(INSTALL_F) $(build_private_libdir)/sys.ji $(DESTDIR)$(private_libdir)
 	$(INSTALL_M) $(build_private_libdir)/sys.$(SHLIB_EXT) $(DESTDIR)$(private_libdir)
diff --git a/src/.gitignore b/src/.gitignore
index b3ae41ba187c6..f681ce47fdd2c 100644
--- a/src/.gitignore
+++ b/src/.gitignore
@@ -17,3 +17,4 @@
 /libjulia-release.a
 /libjulia-release.so
 /libjulia-release.dylib
+/julia_version.h
diff --git a/src/Makefile b/src/Makefile
index 9afff8e593d78..58caeb708fd54 100644
--- a/src/Makefile
+++ b/src/Makefile
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ SRCS = \
 	jltypes gf ast builtins module codegen disasm debuginfo interpreter \
 	alloc dlload sys init task array dump toplevel jl_uv jlapi profile llvm-simdloop
 
-HEADERS = julia.h julia_internal.h options.h $(wildcard support/*.h) $(LIBUV_INC)/uv.h
+HEADERS = julia.h julia_internal.h julia_version.h options.h $(wildcard support/*.h) $(LIBUV_INC)/uv.h
 
 FLAGS = \
 	-D_GNU_SOURCE -Iflisp -Isupport \
@@ -87,6 +87,18 @@ $(BUILDDIR)/flisp/libflisp.a: flisp/*.h flisp/*.c $(BUILDDIR)/support/libsupport
 $(BUILDDIR)/flisp/libflisp-debug.a: flisp/*.h flisp/*.c $(BUILDDIR)/support/libsupport-debug.a
 	$(MAKE) -C flisp debug BUILDDIR='$(abspath $(BUILDDIR)/flisp)'
 
+julia_version.h: ../VERSION
+	@echo "// This is an autogenerated header file" > $@
+	@echo "#ifndef JULIA_VERSION_H" >> $@
+	@echo "#define JULIA_VERSION_H" >> $@
+	@echo "#define JULIA_VERSION_STRING" \"$(JULIA_VERSION)\" >> $@
+	@echo $(JULIA_VERSION) | awk 'BEGIN {FS="[.,-]"} \
+	{print "#define JULIA_VERSION_MAJOR " $$1 "\n" \
+	"#define JULIA_VERSION_MINOR " $$2 "\n" \
+	"#define JULIA_VERSION_PATCH " $$3 ; \
+	if (NF<4) print "#define JULIA_VERSION_IS_RELEASE 1" ; else print  "#define JULIA_VERSION_IS_RELEASE 0"}' >> $@
+	@echo "#endif" >> $@
+
 ifneq ($(USEMSVC), 1)
 CXXLD = $(CXX) -shared
 else
@@ -121,6 +133,7 @@ clean:
 	-rm -f $(build_shlibdir)/libjulia*
 	-rm -f $(BUILDDIR)/julia_flisp.boot $(BUILDDIR)/julia_flisp.boot.inc
 	-rm -f $(BUILDDIR)/*.dbg.obj $(BUILDDIR)/*.o *~ $(BUILDDIR)/*.$(SHLIB_EXT) $(BUILDDIR)/*.a *#
+	-rm -f $(BUILDDIR)/julia_version.h
 
 clean-flisp:
 	-$(MAKE) -C flisp clean BUILDDIR='$(abspath $(BUILDDIR)/flisp)'
diff --git a/src/jlapi.c b/src/jlapi.c
index 006482e50d921..a93201c6586fc 100644
--- a/src/jlapi.c
+++ b/src/jlapi.c
@@ -259,6 +259,31 @@ DLLEXPORT jl_value_t *jl_get_image_file(void)
     return jl_cstr_to_string(jl_compileropts.image_file);
 }
 
+DLLEXPORT const int jl_ver_major(void)
+{
+    return JULIA_VERSION_MAJOR;
+}
+
+DLLEXPORT const int jl_ver_minor(void)
+{
+    return JULIA_VERSION_MINOR;
+}
+
+DLLEXPORT const int jl_ver_patch(void)
+{
+    return JULIA_VERSION_PATCH;
+}
+
+DLLEXPORT const int jl_ver_is_release(void)
+{
+    return JULIA_VERSION_IS_RELEASE;
+}
+
+DLLEXPORT const char* jl_ver_string(void)
+{
+   return JULIA_VERSION_STRING;
+}
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/src/julia.h b/src/julia.h
index 18e30aafe6d33..52f2f96f11abf 100644
--- a/src/julia.h
+++ b/src/julia.h
@@ -1351,6 +1351,15 @@ extern DLLEXPORT jl_compileropts_t jl_compileropts;
 #define JL_COMPILEROPT_DUMPBITCODE_ON 1
 #define JL_COMPILEROPT_DUMPBITCODE_OFF 2
 
+// Version information
+#include "julia_version.h"
+
+DLLEXPORT extern const int jl_ver_major(void);
+DLLEXPORT extern const int jl_ver_minor(void);
+DLLEXPORT extern const int jl_ver_patch(void);
+DLLEXPORT extern const int jl_ver_is_release(void);
+DLLEXPORT extern const char* jl_ver_string(void);
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/test/version.jl b/test/version.jl
index 232ed232d412e..c1e9fb8650d06 100644
--- a/test/version.jl
+++ b/test/version.jl
@@ -133,3 +133,9 @@ for major=0:3, minor=0:3, patch=0:3
 		@test x < thismajor(x) ? nextmajor(x) == thismajor(x) : thismajor(x) < nextmajor(x)
 	end
 end
+
+# julia_version.h version test
+
+@test VERSION.major == ccall(:jl_ver_major,Int,())
+@test VERSION.minor == ccall(:jl_ver_minor,Int,())
+@test VERSION.patch == ccall(:jl_ver_patch,Int,())