diff --git a/core/src/lib.rs b/core/src/lib.rs
index 122823f2d2..cd19291001 100644
--- a/core/src/lib.rs
+++ b/core/src/lib.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,24 @@
 //! command-line tools to spin up validators and a Rust library
 //!
 
+#[macro_export]
+macro_rules! version {
+    () => {
+        &*format!(
+            "{}{}",
+            env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION"),
+            if option_env!("CI_TAG").is_none() {
+                format!(
+                    " [channel={} commit={}]",
+                    option_env!("CHANNEL").unwrap_or("unknown"),
+                    option_env!("CI_COMMIT").unwrap_or("unknown"),
+                )
+            } else {
+                "".to_string()
+            },
+        )
+    };
+}
 pub mod banking_stage;
 pub mod broadcast_stage;
 pub mod chacha;
@@ -58,7 +76,6 @@ pub mod test_tx;
 pub mod tpu;
 pub mod tvu;
 pub mod validator;
-pub(crate) mod version;
 pub mod weighted_shuffle;
 pub mod window_service;
 
diff --git a/core/src/rpc.rs b/core/src/rpc.rs
index 434ccb1f46..5ccce2c371 100644
--- a/core/src/rpc.rs
+++ b/core/src/rpc.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ use crate::{
     packet::PACKET_DATA_SIZE,
     storage_stage::StorageState,
     validator::ValidatorExit,
-    version::VERSION,
 };
 use bincode::{deserialize, serialize};
 use jsonrpc_core::{Error, Metadata, Result};
@@ -723,7 +722,7 @@ impl RpcSol for RpcSolImpl {
 
     fn get_version(&self, _: Self::Metadata) -> Result<RpcVersionInfo> {
         Ok(RpcVersionInfo {
-            solana_core: VERSION.to_string(),
+            solana_core: crate::version!().to_string(),
         })
     }
 
@@ -1388,7 +1387,7 @@ pub mod tests {
         let expected = json!({
             "jsonrpc": "2.0",
             "result": {
-                "solana-core": VERSION
+                "solana-core": crate::version!().to_string()
             },
             "id": 1
         });
diff --git a/core/src/version.rs b/core/src/version.rs
deleted file mode 100644
index fb62f308e4..0000000000
--- a/core/src/version.rs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-pub(crate) const VERSION: &str = env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION");
diff --git a/validator/src/main.rs b/validator/src/main.rs
index 8d3a98669a..bedeabb234 100644
--- a/validator/src/main.rs
+++ b/validator/src/main.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 use bzip2::bufread::BzDecoder;
-use clap::{crate_description, crate_name, crate_version, value_t, value_t_or_exit, App, Arg};
+use clap::{crate_description, crate_name, value_t, value_t_or_exit, App, Arg};
 use console::{style, Emoji};
 use indicatif::{ProgressBar, ProgressStyle};
 use log::*;
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ pub fn main() {
         &format!("{}-{}", VALIDATOR_PORT_RANGE.0, VALIDATOR_PORT_RANGE.1);
 
     let matches = App::new(crate_name!()).about(crate_description!())
-        .version(crate_version!())
+        .version(solana_core::version!())
         .arg(
             Arg::with_name("blockstream_unix_socket")
                 .long("blockstream")
@@ -526,11 +526,9 @@ pub fn main() {
         .map(|s| Hash::from_str(&s).unwrap());
 
     println!(
-        "{} version {} (branch={}, commit={})",
+        "{} {}",
         style(crate_name!()).bold(),
-        crate_version!(),
-        option_env!("CI_BRANCH").unwrap_or("unknown"),
-        option_env!("CI_COMMIT").unwrap_or("unknown")
+        solana_core::version!()
     );
 
     let _log_redirect = {