diff --git a/applets/version.c b/applets/version.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6f6ec24ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/applets/version.c
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#include "busybox.h"
+
+#ifndef BB_EXTRA_VERSION
+#define BANNER "BusyBox v" BB_VER " (" BB_BT ")"
+#else
+#define BANNER "BusyBox v" BB_VER " (" BB_EXTRA_VERSION ")"
+#endif
+
+const char BB_BANNER[]=BANNER;
+const char * const bb_msg_full_version = BANNER " multi-call binary";