diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 48e18388a0f..13c0f911dad 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -254,8 +254,9 @@ INSTALL_VERSION_TEMPLATE = '''\
 # This file was auto-generated by salt's setup on \
 {date:%A, %d %B %Y @ %H:%m:%S UTC}.
 
-__version__ = {version!r}
-__version_info__ = {version_info!r}
+from salt.version import SaltStackVersion
+
+__saltstack_version__ = SaltStackVersion{full_version_info!r}
 '''
 
 
@@ -292,8 +293,7 @@ class Build(build):
             open(version_file_path, 'w').write(
                 INSTALL_VERSION_TEMPLATE.format(
                     date=datetime.utcnow(),
-                    version=__version__,
-                    version_info=__version_info__
+                    full_version_info=__saltstack_version__.full_info
                 )
             )
             # pylint: enable=E0602