diff --git a/bin/bitbake b/bin/bitbake
index a995bd665..f838593e7 100755
--- a/bin/bitbake
+++ b/bin/bitbake
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@
 import os
 import sys
 import warnings
+
+from version import REQUIRED_BBVERSION as __version__
+
 warnings.simplefilter("default")
 
 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.join(os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__)),
@@ -27,8 +30,6 @@ from bb.main import bitbake_main, BitBakeConfigParameters, BBMainException
 
 bb.utils.check_system_locale()
 
-__version__ = "2.16.0"
-
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     if __version__ != bb.__version__:
         sys.exit("Bitbake core version and program version mismatch!")
diff --git a/bin/bitbake-setup b/bin/bitbake-setup
index dcad9c169..1ea41853b 100755
--- a/bin/bitbake-setup
+++ b/bin/bitbake-setup
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ import signal
 import functools
 import string
 
+from version import REQUIRED_BBVERSION as __version__
+
 bindir = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
 sys.path[0:0] = [os.path.join(os.path.dirname(bindir), 'lib')]
 
diff --git a/bin/version.py b/bin/version.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1e2d585d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/version.py
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+REQUIRED_BBVERSION = "2.16.0"
\ No newline at end of file