diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index ac1d83870..68ba697c1 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ EPOCH_TEST_COMMIT ?= f9e02affccd51702191e5312665a16045ffef8ab
 PROJECT := github.com/kubernetes-incubator/cri-containerd
 BINDIR ?= ${DESTDIR}/usr/local/bin
 BUILD_DIR ?= _output
+# VERSION is the version of the binary.
+VERSION:=$(shell git describe --tags --dirty)
+BUILD_TAGS:= -ldflags '-X $(PROJECT)/pkg/version.criContainerdVersion=$(VERSION)'
 
 all: binaries
 
@@ -32,6 +35,7 @@ help:
 	@echo " * 'verify'        - Execute the source code verification tools"
 	@echo " * 'install.tools' - Installs tools used by verify"
 	@echo " * 'uninstall'     - Remove installed binaries from system locations"
+	@echo " * 'version'       - Print current cri-containerd release version"
 
 .PHONY: check-gopath
 
@@ -42,6 +46,9 @@ endif
 
 verify: lint gofmt boiler
 
+version:
+	@echo $(VERSION)
+
 lint: check-gopath
 	@echo "checking lint"
 	@./hack/lint.sh
@@ -56,7 +63,8 @@ boiler:
 
 cri-containerd: check-gopath
 	$(GO) build -o $(BUILD_DIR)/$@ \
-		$(PROJECT)/cmd/cri-containerd
+        $(BUILD_TAGS) \
+	$(PROJECT)/cmd/cri-containerd
 
 test: 
 	go test -timeout=1m -v -race ./pkg/... $(BUILD_TAGS)
@@ -102,4 +110,5 @@ install.tools: .install.gitvalidation .install.gometalinter
 	help \
 	install \
 	lint \
-	uninstall
+	uninstall \
+	version
diff --git a/cmd/cri-containerd/cri_containerd.go b/cmd/cri-containerd/cri_containerd.go
index 175341506..9a0fe1458 100644
--- a/cmd/cri-containerd/cri_containerd.go
+++ b/cmd/cri-containerd/cri_containerd.go
@@ -17,11 +17,14 @@ limitations under the License.
 package main
 
 import (
+	"os"
+
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
 	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
 
 	"github.com/kubernetes-incubator/cri-containerd/cmd/cri-containerd/options"
 	"github.com/kubernetes-incubator/cri-containerd/pkg/server"
+	"github.com/kubernetes-incubator/cri-containerd/pkg/version"
 )
 
 func main() {
@@ -29,6 +32,11 @@ func main() {
 	o.AddFlags(pflag.CommandLine)
 	options.InitFlags()
 
+	if o.CRIContainerdVersion {
+		version.PrintVersion()
+		os.Exit(0)
+	}
+
 	glog.V(2).Infof("Connect to containerd socket %q with timeout %v", o.ContainerdSocketPath, o.ContainerdConnectionTimeout)
 	conn, err := server.ConnectToContainerd(o.ContainerdSocketPath, o.ContainerdConnectionTimeout)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/cmd/cri-containerd/options/options.go b/cmd/cri-containerd/options/options.go
index 6fa0c5b94..1d91f5a84 100644
--- a/cmd/cri-containerd/options/options.go
+++ b/cmd/cri-containerd/options/options.go
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ import (
 type CRIContainerdOptions struct {
 	// CRIContainerdSocketPath is the path to the socket which cri-containerd serves on.
 	CRIContainerdSocketPath string
+	// CRIContainerdVersion is the git release version of cri-containerd
+	CRIContainerdVersion bool
 	// ContainerdSocketPath is the path to the containerd socket.
 	ContainerdSocketPath string
 	// ContainerdConnectionTimeout is the connection timeout for containerd client.
@@ -46,6 +48,8 @@ func (c *CRIContainerdOptions) AddFlags(fs *pflag.FlagSet) {
 		"/run/containerd/containerd.sock", "Path to the containerd socket.")
 	fs.DurationVar(&c.ContainerdConnectionTimeout, "containerd-connection-timeout",
 		2*time.Minute, "Connection timeout for containerd client.")
+	fs.BoolVar(&c.CRIContainerdVersion, "version",
+		false, "Print cri-containerd version information and quit.")
 }
 
 // InitFlags must be called after adding all cli options flags are defined and
diff --git a/pkg/version/version.go b/pkg/version/version.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..05a2ca4b8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/version/version.go
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2017 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 version
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/blang/semver"
+)
+
+var criContainerdVersion = "UNKNOWN"
+
+func validateSemver(sv string) error {
+	_, err := semver.Parse(sv)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("couldn't parse cri-containerd version %q: %v", sv, err)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// PrintVersion outputs the release version of cri-containerd
+func PrintVersion() {
+	err := validateSemver(criContainerdVersion)
+	if err != nil {
+		fmt.Println(err)
+	}
+	fmt.Println(criContainerdVersion)
+}
diff --git a/pkg/version/version_test.go b/pkg/version/version_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..22b0335a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/version/version_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2017 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 version
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestValidateSemver(t *testing.T) {
+	err := validateSemver("UNKNOWN")
+	assert := assert.New(t)
+	assert.NotNil(err)
+	err = validateSemver("0.0.0-1-gdf6a1cc-dirty")
+	assert.Nil(err)
+	err = validateSemver(criContainerdVersion)
+	assert.Nil(err)
+}