diff --git a/docs/devel/kubectl-conventions.md b/docs/devel/kubectl-conventions.md
index af9642859a..1e94b3ba53 100644
--- a/docs/devel/kubectl-conventions.md
+++ b/docs/devel/kubectl-conventions.md
@@ -151,6 +151,9 @@ generation, etc., and display the output
 
 * `--output-version=...`: Convert the output to a different API group/version
 
+* `--short`: Output a compact summary of normal output; the format is subject
+to change and is optimizied for reading not parsing.
+
 * `--validate`: Validate the resource schema
 
 ## Output conventions
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/BUILD b/pkg/kubectl/BUILD
index 0480f464a1..cc112dd3ef 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/BUILD
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/BUILD
@@ -46,7 +46,6 @@ go_library(
         "sorted_resource_name_list.go",
         "sorting_printer.go",
         "stop.go",
-        "version.go",
     ],
     tags = ["automanaged"],
     deps = [
@@ -102,7 +101,6 @@ go_library(
         "//pkg/util/uuid:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/util/validation:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/util/wait:go_default_library",
-        "//pkg/version:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/watch:go_default_library",
         "//vendor:github.com/emicklei/go-restful/swagger",
         "//vendor:github.com/ghodss/yaml",
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/BUILD b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/BUILD
index b6237d039c..ba6a9ef1a9 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/BUILD
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/BUILD
@@ -107,6 +107,7 @@ go_library(
         "//pkg/util/validation/field:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/util/wait:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/util/yaml:go_default_library",
+        "//pkg/version:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/watch:go_default_library",
         "//vendor:github.com/daviddengcn/go-colortext",
         "//vendor:github.com/docker/distribution/reference",
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/version.go b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/version.go
index f128918a3f..b5bfaf5e71 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/version.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/version.go
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 
-	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubectl"
 	cmdutil "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubectl/cmd/util"
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/version"
 )
 
 func NewCmdVersion(f cmdutil.Factory, out io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
@@ -36,12 +36,18 @@ func NewCmdVersion(f cmdutil.Factory, out io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
 		},
 	}
 	cmd.Flags().BoolP("client", "c", false, "Client version only (no server required).")
+	cmd.Flags().BoolP("short", "", false, "Print just the version number.")
 	cmd.Flags().MarkShorthandDeprecated("client", "please use --client instead.")
 	return cmd
 }
 
 func RunVersion(f cmdutil.Factory, out io.Writer, cmd *cobra.Command) error {
-	kubectl.GetClientVersion(out)
+	v := fmt.Sprintf("%#v", version.Get())
+	if cmdutil.GetFlagBool(cmd, "short") {
+		v = version.Get().GitVersion
+	}
+
+	fmt.Fprintf(out, "Client Version: %s\n", v)
 	if cmdutil.GetFlagBool(cmd, "client") {
 		return nil
 	}
@@ -56,6 +62,11 @@ func RunVersion(f cmdutil.Factory, out io.Writer, cmd *cobra.Command) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	fmt.Fprintf(out, "Server Version: %#v\n", *serverVersion)
+	v = fmt.Sprintf("%#v", *serverVersion)
+	if cmdutil.GetFlagBool(cmd, "short") {
+		v = serverVersion.GitVersion
+	}
+
+	fmt.Fprintf(out, "Server Version: %s\n", v)
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/version.go b/pkg/kubectl/version.go
deleted file mode 100644
index d015df727f..0000000000
--- a/pkg/kubectl/version.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
-/*
-Copyright 2014 The Kubernetes Authors.
-
-Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
-you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
-You may obtain a copy of the License at
-
-    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
-
-Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
-distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
-WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
-See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
-limitations under the License.
-*/
-
-package kubectl
-
-import (
-	"fmt"
-	"io"
-
-	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/version"
-)
-
-func GetClientVersion(w io.Writer) {
-	fmt.Fprintf(w, "Client Version: %#v\n", version.Get())
-}