diff --git a/kernel/src/main/java/org/kframework/utils/file/JarInfo.java b/kernel/src/main/java/org/kframework/utils/file/JarInfo.java
index 6eb4064e0eb..867f29281b0 100644
--- a/kernel/src/main/java/org/kframework/utils/file/JarInfo.java
+++ b/kernel/src/main/java/org/kframework/utils/file/JarInfo.java
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ public void printVersionMessage() {
             // the release version if we're not (e.g. from a release tarball).
             String version = mf.getMainAttributes().getValue("Implementation-Git-Describe");
             if (version.isEmpty()) {
-                version = FileUtils.readFileToString(new File(kBase + "/lib/version")).trim();
+                version = "v" + FileUtils.readFileToString(new File(kBase + "/lib/version")).trim();
             }
 
             System.out.println("K version:    " + version);