diff --git a/userspace/engine/falco_engine.cpp b/userspace/engine/falco_engine.cpp
index 1b0f3d73..16b8f28c 100644
--- a/userspace/engine/falco_engine.cpp
+++ b/userspace/engine/falco_engine.cpp
@@ -75,9 +75,9 @@ falco_engine::~falco_engine()
 	m_sources.clear();
 }
 
-uint32_t falco_engine::engine_version()
+std::string falco_engine::engine_version()
 {
-	return (uint32_t) FALCO_ENGINE_VERSION;
+	return FALCO_ENGINE_VERSION;
 }
 
 const falco_source* falco_engine::find_source(const std::string& name) const
@@ -567,7 +567,7 @@ void falco_engine::describe_rule(std::string *rule, const std::vector<std::share
 
 		// Store required engine version
 		auto required_engine_version = m_rule_collector.required_engine_version();
-		output["required_engine_version"] = std::to_string(required_engine_version.version);
+		output["required_engine_version"] = required_engine_version.version;
 
 		// Store required plugin versions
 		Json::Value plugin_versions = Json::arrayValue;
diff --git a/userspace/engine/falco_engine.h b/userspace/engine/falco_engine.h
index 38a66801..9c63aee2 100644
--- a/userspace/engine/falco_engine.h
+++ b/userspace/engine/falco_engine.h
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ public:
 	// and rules file format it supports. This version will change
 	// any time the code that handles rules files, expression
 	// fields, etc, changes.
-	static uint32_t engine_version();
+	static std::string engine_version();
 
 	// Print to stdout (using printf) a description of each field supported by this engine.
 	// If source is non-empty, only fields for the provided source are printed.
diff --git a/userspace/engine/falco_engine_version.h b/userspace/engine/falco_engine_version.h
index 94b811c9..e99e38c2 100644
--- a/userspace/engine/falco_engine_version.h
+++ b/userspace/engine/falco_engine_version.h
@@ -16,7 +16,11 @@ limitations under the License.
 */
 
 // The version of this Falco engine.
-#define FALCO_ENGINE_VERSION (26)
+#define FALCO_ENGINE_VERSION "0.26.0"
+
+// Default version values assumed when parsing numeric required_engine_version
+#define FALCO_DEFAULT_ENGINE_MAJOR 0
+#define FALCO_DEFAULT_ENGINE_PATCH 0
 
 // This is the result of running the following command:
 //   FALCO="falco -c ./falco.yaml"