diff --git a/cmd/apiserver/apiserver.go b/cmd/apiserver/apiserver.go
index 7a564b219a1..32856352052 100644
--- a/cmd/apiserver/apiserver.go
+++ b/cmd/apiserver/apiserver.go
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/cloudprovider"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/master"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/util"
-	verflag "github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/version/flag"
+	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/version/verflag"
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
 )
 
diff --git a/cmd/controller-manager/controller-manager.go b/cmd/controller-manager/controller-manager.go
index 091e7bddeb1..c1372674c4d 100644
--- a/cmd/controller-manager/controller-manager.go
+++ b/cmd/controller-manager/controller-manager.go
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/client"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/controller"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/util"
-	verflag "github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/version/flag"
+	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/version/verflag"
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
 )
 
diff --git a/cmd/kubecfg/kubecfg.go b/cmd/kubecfg/kubecfg.go
index ad36985ea86..f93f18e1e7c 100644
--- a/cmd/kubecfg/kubecfg.go
+++ b/cmd/kubecfg/kubecfg.go
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/runtime"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/util"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/version"
-	verflag "github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/version/flag"
+	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/version/verflag"
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
 )
 
diff --git a/cmd/kubelet/kubelet.go b/cmd/kubelet/kubelet.go
index 05166581f7f..21052332c8f 100644
--- a/cmd/kubelet/kubelet.go
+++ b/cmd/kubelet/kubelet.go
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ import (
 	kconfig "github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/kubelet/config"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/tools"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/util"
-	verflag "github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/version/flag"
+	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/version/verflag"
 	"github.com/coreos/go-etcd/etcd"
 	"github.com/fsouza/go-dockerclient"
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
diff --git a/cmd/proxy/proxy.go b/cmd/proxy/proxy.go
index 982aa3f8795..adfcf3babc7 100644
--- a/cmd/proxy/proxy.go
+++ b/cmd/proxy/proxy.go
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/proxy"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/proxy/config"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/util"
-	verflag "github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/version/flag"
+	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/version/verflag"
 	"github.com/coreos/go-etcd/etcd"
 	"github.com/golang/glog"
 )
diff --git a/pkg/version/flag/flag.go b/pkg/version/flag/flag.go
deleted file mode 100644
index e467a80ca5f..00000000000
--- a/pkg/version/flag/flag.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,39 +0,0 @@
-/*
-Copyright 2014 Google Inc. All rights reserved.
-
-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 flag defines utility functions to handle command line flags related to version of Kubernetes.
-package flag
-
-import (
-	"flag"
-	"fmt"
-	"os"
-
-	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/version"
-)
-
-var (
-	versionFlag = flag.Bool("version", false, "Print version information and quit")
-)
-
-// PrintAndExitIfRequested will check if the -version flag was passed
-// and, if so, print the version and exit.
-func PrintAndExitIfRequested() {
-	if *versionFlag {
-		fmt.Printf("Kubernetes %s\n", version.Get())
-		os.Exit(0)
-	}
-}
diff --git a/pkg/version/verflag/verflag.go b/pkg/version/verflag/verflag.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..85c47bc5214
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/version/verflag/verflag.go
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2014 Google Inc. All rights reserved.
+
+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 verflag defines utility functions to handle command line flags
+// related to version of Kubernetes.
+package verflag
+
+import (
+	"flag"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"strconv"
+
+	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/version"
+)
+
+type versionValue int
+
+const (
+	VersionFalse versionValue = 0
+	VersionTrue  versionValue = 1
+	VersionRaw   versionValue = 2
+)
+
+const strRawVersion string = "raw"
+
+func (v *versionValue) IsBoolFlag() bool {
+	return true
+}
+
+func (v *versionValue) Get() interface{} {
+	return versionValue(*v)
+}
+
+func (v *versionValue) Set(s string) error {
+	if s == strRawVersion {
+		*v = VersionRaw
+		return nil
+	}
+	boolVal, err := strconv.ParseBool(s)
+	if boolVal {
+		*v = VersionTrue
+	} else {
+		*v = VersionFalse
+	}
+	return err
+}
+
+func (v *versionValue) String() string {
+	if *v == VersionRaw {
+		return strRawVersion
+	}
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%v", bool(*v == VersionTrue))
+}
+
+func VersionVar(p *versionValue, name string, value versionValue, usage string) {
+	*p = value
+	flag.Var(p, name, usage)
+}
+
+func Version(name string, value versionValue, usage string) *versionValue {
+	p := new(versionValue)
+	VersionVar(p, name, value, usage)
+	return p
+}
+
+var (
+	versionFlag = Version("version", VersionFalse, "Print version information and quit")
+)
+
+// PrintAndExitIfRequested will check if the -version flag was passed
+// and, if so, print the version and exit.
+func PrintAndExitIfRequested() {
+	if *versionFlag == VersionRaw {
+		fmt.Printf("%#v\n", version.Get())
+		os.Exit(0)
+	} else if *versionFlag == VersionTrue {
+		fmt.Printf("Kubernetes %s\n", version.Get())
+		os.Exit(0)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/plugin/cmd/scheduler/scheduler.go b/plugin/cmd/scheduler/scheduler.go
index 6a58f2420ed..b4ea15939fe 100644
--- a/plugin/cmd/scheduler/scheduler.go
+++ b/plugin/cmd/scheduler/scheduler.go
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/client"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/util"
-	verflag "github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/version/flag"
+	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/pkg/version/verflag"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/plugin/pkg/scheduler"
 	"github.com/GoogleCloudPlatform/kubernetes/plugin/pkg/scheduler/factory"
 	"github.com/golang/glog"