diff --git a/etcdserver/etcdhttp/client.go b/etcdserver/etcdhttp/client.go
index a2307b40e..b26b1325c 100644
--- a/etcdserver/etcdhttp/client.go
+++ b/etcdserver/etcdhttp/client.go
@@ -335,7 +335,7 @@ func serveVersion(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	if !allowMethod(w, r.Method, "GET") {
 		return
 	}
-	w.Write([]byte("etcd " + version.Version))
+	fmt.Fprintf(w, `{"releaseVersion":"%s","internalVersion":"%s"}`, version.Version, version.InternalVersion)
 }
 
 // parseKeyRequest converts a received http.Request on keysPrefix to
diff --git a/etcdserver/etcdhttp/client_test.go b/etcdserver/etcdhttp/client_test.go
index 9a717481c..5d013ea7a 100644
--- a/etcdserver/etcdhttp/client_test.go
+++ b/etcdserver/etcdhttp/client_test.go
@@ -1329,7 +1329,7 @@ func TestServeVersion(t *testing.T) {
 	if rw.Code != http.StatusOK {
 		t.Errorf("code=%d, want %d", rw.Code, http.StatusOK)
 	}
-	w := fmt.Sprintf("etcd %s", version.Version)
+	w := fmt.Sprintf(`{"releaseVersion":"%s","internalVersion":"%s"}`, version.Version, version.InternalVersion)
 	if g := rw.Body.String(); g != w {
 		t.Fatalf("body = %q, want %q", g, w)
 	}
diff --git a/version/version.go b/version/version.go
index 237623c32..0b08d2dbf 100644
--- a/version/version.go
+++ b/version/version.go
@@ -17,5 +17,6 @@
 package version
 
 var (
-	Version = "2.0.0-rc.1"
+	Version         = "2.0.0-rc.1"
+	InternalVersion = "2"
 )