diff --git a/core/src/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/core/src/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index 689af0e1d89..0cccd0d9d13 100644
--- a/core/src/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/core/src/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -464,3 +464,14 @@ target_link_libraries(test_acl_entry_syntax
 )
 
 gtest_discover_tests(test_acl_entry_syntax TEST_PREFIX gtest:)
+
+####### version_strings  #####################################
+add_executable(version_strings version_strings.cc)
+
+target_link_libraries(version_strings
+   bareos
+   ${GTEST_LIBRARIES}
+   ${GTEST_MAIN_LIBRARIES}
+)
+
+gtest_discover_tests(version_strings TEST_PREFIX gtest:)
diff --git a/core/src/tests/version_strings.cc b/core/src/tests/version_strings.cc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..67f4d38361f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/src/tests/version_strings.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+/*
+   BAREOS® - Backup Archiving REcovery Open Sourced
+
+   Copyright (C) 2019-2019 Bareos GmbH & Co. KG
+
+   This program is Free Software; you can redistribute it and/or
+   modify it under the terms of version three of the GNU Affero General Public
+   License as published by the Free Software Foundation, which is
+   listed in the file LICENSE.
+
+   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
+   WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
+   Affero General Public License for more details.
+
+   You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+   along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+   Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
+   02110-1301, USA.
+*/
+#include <algorithm>
+#include <ctype.h>
+#include <string>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <vector>
+#include "gtest/gtest.h"
+#include "lib/version.h"
+
+TEST(version_strings, version)
+{
+  std::string ver_full{kBareosVersionStrings.Full};
+
+  // the full version is not a nullstring
+  EXPECT_GT(strlen(kBareosVersionStrings.Full), 0);
+
+  // the full version contains at least two dots (.)
+  EXPECT_GE(std::count(ver_full.begin(), ver_full.end(), '.'), 2);
+
+  // the version starts with a digit
+  EXPECT_TRUE(isdigit(kBareosVersionStrings.Full[0]));
+
+  // version + date is set correctly
+  std::string full_with_date{kBareosVersionStrings.FullWithDate};
+  std::string ref_full_with_date =
+      ver_full + " (" + kBareosVersionStrings.Date + ")";
+  EXPECT_EQ(full_with_date, ref_full_with_date);
+}
+
+TEST(version_strings, dates)
+{
+  const size_t date_len{strlen(kBareosVersionStrings.Date)};
+  const std::string date{kBareosVersionStrings.Date};
+  const std::string short_date{kBareosVersionStrings.ShortDate};
+
+  // shortest possible is a date in May like "01 May 2019"
+  EXPECT_GT(date_len, 10);
+
+  // check format of date
+  EXPECT_TRUE(isdigit(kBareosVersionStrings.Date[0]));
+  EXPECT_TRUE(isdigit(kBareosVersionStrings.Date[1]));
+  EXPECT_EQ(kBareosVersionStrings.Date[2], ' ');
+  EXPECT_EQ(kBareosVersionStrings.Date[date_len - 5], ' ');
+  EXPECT_TRUE(isdigit(kBareosVersionStrings.Date[date_len - 4]));
+  EXPECT_TRUE(isdigit(kBareosVersionStrings.Date[date_len - 3]));
+  EXPECT_TRUE(isdigit(kBareosVersionStrings.Date[date_len - 2]));
+  EXPECT_TRUE(isdigit(kBareosVersionStrings.Date[date_len - 1]));
+
+  const int day = std::stoi(date.substr(0, 2));
+  EXPECT_GT(day, 0);
+  EXPECT_LT(day, 32);
+
+  // check that our month is a real month
+  const std::vector<std::string> months{
+      "January", "February", "March",     "April",   "May",      "June",
+      "July",    "August",   "September", "October", "November", "December"};
+
+  EXPECT_NE(std::find(std::begin(months), std::end(months),
+                      date.substr(3, date_len - 8)),
+            std::end(months));
+
+  // year should have a sane value
+  const int year = std::stoi(date.substr(date_len - 4, 4));
+  EXPECT_GT(year, 2018);
+  EXPECT_LT(year, 2100);
+
+  // year is exactly 4 chars long
+  EXPECT_EQ(strlen(kBareosVersionStrings.Year), 4);
+  // all these chars are digits
+  EXPECT_TRUE(isdigit(kBareosVersionStrings.Year[0]));
+  EXPECT_TRUE(isdigit(kBareosVersionStrings.Year[1]));
+  EXPECT_TRUE(isdigit(kBareosVersionStrings.Year[2]));
+  EXPECT_TRUE(isdigit(kBareosVersionStrings.Year[3]));
+
+  // year should be consistent across variables
+  EXPECT_EQ(year, atoi(kBareosVersionStrings.Year));
+  EXPECT_EQ(year % 1000, atoi(kBareosVersionStrings.ShortDate + 5));
+  EXPECT_EQ(year, atoi(kBareosVersionStrings.ProgDateTime));
+
+  // construct shortdate from date and check if it matches
+  std::string ref_short_date = date.substr(0,2) + date.substr(3,3) + date.substr(date_len -2, 2);
+  EXPECT_EQ(short_date, ref_short_date);
+}
+
+TEST(version_strings, messages) {
+  // just make sure these strings contain at least some text
+  EXPECT_GT(strlen(kBareosVersionStrings.BinaryInfo), 10);
+  EXPECT_GT(strlen(kBareosVersionStrings.ServicesMessage), 10);
+  EXPECT_GT(strlen(kBareosVersionStrings.JoblogMessage), 10);
+}