diff --git a/plugin/set_test.go b/plugin/set_test.go
index 0a974e88f..f29ecc8f4 100644
--- a/plugin/set_test.go
+++ b/plugin/set_test.go
@@ -45,12 +45,12 @@ func TestSet(t *testing.T) {
 	set.RegisterProvisioner("example-2", new(MockProvisioner))
 	set.RegisterDatasource("example", new(MockDatasource))
 	set.RegisterDatasource("example-2", new(MockDatasource))
-	set.SetVersion(pluginVersion.InitializePluginVersion(
-		"1.1.1", ""))
+	set.SetVersion(pluginVersion.NewPluginVersion(
+		"1.1.1", "", ""))
 
 	outputDesc := set.description()
 
-	sdkVersion := pluginVersion.InitializePluginVersion(pluginVersion.Version, pluginVersion.VersionPrerelease)
+	sdkVersion := pluginVersion.NewPluginVersion(pluginVersion.Version, pluginVersion.VersionPrerelease, "")
 	if diff := cmp.Diff(SetDescription{
 		Version:        "1.1.1",
 		SDKVersion:     sdkVersion.String(),
diff --git a/version/version.go b/version/version.go
index d03214716..36bd9149a 100644
--- a/version/version.go
+++ b/version/version.go
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
 package version
 
 import (
-	"bytes"
 	"fmt"
 
 	"github.com/hashicorp/go-version"
@@ -81,6 +80,7 @@ func NewPluginVersion(vers, versionPrerelease, versionMetadata string) *PluginVe
 	if versionMetadata != "" {
 		versionRawString = fmt.Sprintf("%s+%s", versionRawString, versionMetadata)
 	}
+
 	// This call initializes the SemVer to make sure that if Packer crashes due
 	// to an invalid SemVer it's at the very beginning of the Packer run.
 	semVer := version.Must(version.NewVersion(versionRawString))
@@ -112,18 +112,18 @@ type PluginVersion struct {
 func (p *PluginVersion) SetMetadata(meta string) {
 	p.versionMetadata = meta
 }
+
 func (p *PluginVersion) FormattedVersion() string {
-	var versionString bytes.Buffer
-	fmt.Fprintf(&versionString, "%s", p.version)
-	if p.versionPrerelease != "" {
-		fmt.Fprintf(&versionString, "-%s", p.versionPrerelease)
-
-		if GitCommit != "" {
-			fmt.Fprintf(&versionString, " (%s)", GitCommit)
-		}
+	versionString := p.semVer.String()
+
+	// Given there could be some metadata already, we add the commit to the
+	// reported version as part of the metadata, with a `-` spearator if
+	// the metadata is already there, otherwise we make it the metadata
+	if GitCommit != "" {
+		versionString = fmt.Sprintf("%s (%s)", versionString, GitCommit)
 	}
 
-	return versionString.String()
+	return versionString
 }
 
 func (p *PluginVersion) SemVer() *version.Version {
diff --git a/version/version_test.go b/version/version_test.go
index 1c67497fa..55e46a00b 100644
--- a/version/version_test.go
+++ b/version/version_test.go
@@ -101,6 +101,13 @@ func TestFormattedVersionString(t *testing.T) {
 	ver := InitializePluginVersion("1.0.0", "dev")
 	formatted := ver.FormattedVersion()
 	if formatted != expectedVersion {
-		t.Fatalf("Expected formatted version %q; got %q", expectedVersion, formatted)
+		t.Errorf("Expected formatted version %q; got %q", expectedVersion, formatted)
+	}
+
+	expectedVersion = fmt.Sprintf("1.0.0-dev+meta (%s)", GitCommit)
+	ver = NewPluginVersion("1.0.0", "dev", "meta")
+	formatted = ver.FormattedVersion()
+	if formatted != expectedVersion {
+		t.Errorf("Expected formatted version %q; got %q", expectedVersion, formatted)
 	}
 }