diff --git a/numpy/_core/code_generators/generate_numpy_api.py b/numpy/_core/code_generators/generate_numpy_api.py
index 7759ea1eeebf..d69725e581aa 100644
--- a/numpy/_core/code_generators/generate_numpy_api.py
+++ b/numpy/_core/code_generators/generate_numpy_api.py
@@ -111,13 +111,15 @@
   }
   PyArray_RUNTIME_VERSION = (int)PyArray_GetNDArrayCFeatureVersion();
   if (NPY_FEATURE_VERSION > PyArray_RUNTIME_VERSION) {
-      PyErr_Format(PyExc_RuntimeError, "module compiled against "\
-             "API version 0x%%x but this version of numpy is 0x%%x . "\
-             "Check the section C-API incompatibility at the "\
-             "Troubleshooting ImportError section at "\
-             "https://numpy.org/devdocs/user/troubleshooting-importerror.html"\
-             "#c-api-incompatibility "\
-              "for indications on how to solve this problem .", \
+      PyErr_Format(PyExc_RuntimeError,
+             "module was compiled against NumPy C-API version 0x%%x "
+             "(NumPy " NPY_FEATURE_VERSION_STRING ") "
+             "but the running NumPy has C-API version 0x%%x. "
+             "Check the section C-API incompatibility at the "
+             "Troubleshooting ImportError section at "
+             "https://numpy.org/devdocs/user/troubleshooting-importerror.html"
+             "#c-api-incompatibility "
+             "for indications on how to solve this problem.",
              (int)NPY_FEATURE_VERSION, PyArray_RUNTIME_VERSION);
       return -1;
   }
diff --git a/numpy/_core/include/numpy/numpyconfig.h b/numpy/_core/include/numpy/numpyconfig.h
index 19cffc13f77f..0b6b2dda4290 100644
--- a/numpy/_core/include/numpy/numpyconfig.h
+++ b/numpy/_core/include/numpy/numpyconfig.h
@@ -132,5 +132,37 @@
     #warning "Requested NumPy target lower than supported NumPy 1.15."
 #endif
 
+/*
+ * We define a human readable translation to the Python version of NumPy
+ * for error messages (and also to allow grepping the binaries for conda).
+ */
+#if NPY_FEATURE_VERSION == NPY_1_7_API_VERSION
+    #define NPY_FEATURE_VERSION_STRING "1.7"
+#elif NPY_FEATURE_VERSION == NPY_1_8_API_VERSION
+    #define NPY_FEATURE_VERSION_STRING "1.8"
+#elif NPY_FEATURE_VERSION == NPY_1_9_API_VERSION
+    #define NPY_FEATURE_VERSION_STRING "1.9"
+#elif NPY_FEATURE_VERSION == NPY_1_10_API_VERSION  /* also 1.11, 1.12 */
+    #define NPY_FEATURE_VERSION_STRING "1.10"
+#elif NPY_FEATURE_VERSION == NPY_1_13_API_VERSION
+    #define NPY_FEATURE_VERSION_STRING "1.13"
+#elif NPY_FEATURE_VERSION == NPY_1_14_API_VERSION  /* also 1.15 */
+    #define NPY_FEATURE_VERSION_STRING "1.14"
+#elif NPY_FEATURE_VERSION == NPY_1_16_API_VERSION  /* also 1.17, 1.18, 1.19 */
+    #define NPY_FEATURE_VERSION_STRING "1.16"
+#elif NPY_FEATURE_VERSION == NPY_1_20_API_VERSION  /* also 1.21 */
+    #define NPY_FEATURE_VERSION_STRING "1.20"
+#elif NPY_FEATURE_VERSION == NPY_1_22_API_VERSION
+    #define NPY_FEATURE_VERSION_STRING "1.22"
+#elif NPY_FEATURE_VERSION == NPY_1_23_API_VERSION  /* also 1.24 */
+    #define NPY_FEATURE_VERSION_STRING "1.23"
+#elif NPY_FEATURE_VERSION == NPY_1_25_API_VERSION
+    #define NPY_FEATURE_VERSION_STRING "1.25"
+#elif NPY_FEATURE_VERSION == NPY_2_0_API_VERSION
+    #define NPY_FEATURE_VERSION_STRING "2.0"
+#else
+    #error "Missing version string define for new NumPy version."
+#endif
+
 
 #endif  /* NUMPY_CORE_INCLUDE_NUMPY_NPY_NUMPYCONFIG_H_ */