diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/BUILD b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/BUILD
index b011ac81c93..13d3463f989 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/BUILD
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/BUILD
@@ -46,12 +46,14 @@ go_library(
         "//pkg/util/initsystem:go_default_library",
         "//pkg/version:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/github.com/blang/semver:go_default_library",
+        "//vendor/github.com/ghodss/yaml:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/github.com/renstrom/dedent:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/github.com/spf13/cobra:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/fields:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/net:go_default_library",
+        "//vendor/k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/version:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/k8s.io/apiserver/pkg/util/flag:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/k8s.io/client-go/kubernetes:go_default_library",
         "//vendor/k8s.io/client-go/pkg/api:go_default_library",
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/version.go b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/version.go
index 28f5f0c1a18..27a35ae32fd 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/version.go
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/app/cmd/version.go
@@ -17,28 +17,64 @@ limitations under the License.
 package cmd
 
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 
+	"github.com/ghodss/yaml"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 
+	apimachineryversion "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/version"
 	kubeadmutil "k8s.io/kubernetes/cmd/kubeadm/app/util"
+	cmdutil "k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/kubectl/cmd/util"
+	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/util/i18n"
 	"k8s.io/kubernetes/pkg/version"
 )
 
+// Version provides the version information of kubeadm.
+type Version struct {
+	ClientVersion *apimachineryversion.Info `json:"clientVersion"`
+}
+
 func NewCmdVersion(out io.Writer) *cobra.Command {
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:   "version",
-		Short: "Print the version of kubeadm",
+		Short: i18n.T("Print the version of kubeadm"),
 		Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 			err := RunVersion(out, cmd)
 			kubeadmutil.CheckErr(err)
 		},
 	}
+	cmd.Flags().StringP("output", "o", "", "output format, options available are yaml, json and short")
 	return cmd
 }
 
 func RunVersion(out io.Writer, cmd *cobra.Command) error {
-	fmt.Fprintf(out, "kubeadm version: %#v\n", version.Get())
+	clientVersion := version.Get()
+	v := Version{
+		ClientVersion: &clientVersion,
+	}
+
+	switch of := cmdutil.GetFlagString(cmd, "output"); of {
+	case "":
+		fmt.Fprintf(out, "kubeadm version: %#v\n", v.ClientVersion)
+	case "short":
+		fmt.Fprintf(out, "%s\n", v.ClientVersion.GitVersion)
+	case "yaml":
+		y, err := yaml.Marshal(&v)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		fmt.Fprintln(out, string(y))
+	case "json":
+		y, err := json.Marshal(&v)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		fmt.Fprintln(out, string(y))
+	default:
+		return fmt.Errorf("invalid output format: %s", of)
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/test/cmd/BUILD b/cmd/kubeadm/test/cmd/BUILD
index fc7fc475a37..19265aa5538 100644
--- a/cmd/kubeadm/test/cmd/BUILD
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/test/cmd/BUILD
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ go_test(
         "init_test.go",
         "join_test.go",
         "token_test.go",
+        "version_test.go",
     ],
     args = ["--kubeadm-path=../../kubeadm"],
     data = ["//cmd/kubeadm"],
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@ go_test(
         "integration",
         "skip",
     ],
+    deps = ["//vendor/github.com/ghodss/yaml:go_default_library"],
 )
 
 filegroup(
diff --git a/cmd/kubeadm/test/cmd/version_test.go b/cmd/kubeadm/test/cmd/version_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6a65ef0c99d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/kubeadm/test/cmd/version_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+/*
+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 kubeadm
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"regexp"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/ghodss/yaml"
+)
+
+const (
+	ShortExpectedRegex  = "^v.+\n$"
+	NormalExpectedRegex = "^kubeadm version: &version\\.Info{Major:\".+\", Minor:\".+\", GitVersion:\".+\", GitCommit:\".+\", GitTreeState:\".+\", BuildDate:\".+\", GoVersion:\".+\", Compiler:\".+\", Platform:\".+\"}\n$"
+)
+
+var (
+	VersionInfo = []string{"major", "minor", "gitVersion", "gitCommit", "gitTreeState", "buildDate", "goVersion", "compiler", "platform"}
+)
+
+func TestCmdVersion(t *testing.T) {
+	if *kubeadmCmdSkip {
+		t.Log("kubeadm cmd tests being skipped")
+		t.Skip()
+	}
+
+	var versionTest = []struct {
+		args     string
+		regex    string
+		expected bool
+	}{
+		{"--output=valid", "", false},
+		{"--output=short", ShortExpectedRegex, true},
+		{"", NormalExpectedRegex, true},
+	}
+
+	for _, rt := range versionTest {
+		stdout, _, actual := RunCmd(*kubeadmPath, "version", rt.args)
+		if (actual == nil) != rt.expected {
+			t.Errorf(
+				"failed CmdVersion running 'kubeadm version %s' with an error: %v\n\texpected: %t\n\t  actual: %t",
+				rt.args,
+				actual,
+				rt.expected,
+				(actual == nil),
+			)
+		}
+
+		if rt.expected {
+			matched, err := regexp.MatchString(rt.regex, stdout)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("encountered an error while trying to match 'kubeadm version %s' stdout: %v", rt.args, err)
+			}
+			if !matched {
+				t.Errorf("'kubeadm version %s' stdout did not match expected regex; wanted: [%q], got: [%s]", rt.args, rt.regex, stdout)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func TestCmdVersionOutputJsonOrYaml(t *testing.T) {
+	if *kubeadmCmdSkip {
+		t.Log("kubeadm cmd tests being skipped")
+		t.Skip()
+	}
+
+	var versionTest = []struct {
+		args     string
+		format   string
+		expected bool
+	}{
+		{"--output=json", "json", true},
+		{"--output=yaml", "yaml", true},
+	}
+
+	for _, rt := range versionTest {
+		stdout, _, actual := RunCmd(*kubeadmPath, "version", rt.args)
+		if (actual == nil) != rt.expected {
+			t.Errorf(
+				"failed CmdVersion running 'kubeadm version %s' with an error: %v\n\texpected: %t\n\t  actual: %t",
+				rt.args,
+				actual,
+				rt.expected,
+				(actual == nil),
+			)
+		}
+
+		if rt.expected {
+			var obj interface{}
+			switch rt.format {
+			case "json":
+				err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(stdout), &obj)
+				if err != nil {
+					t.Errorf("failed to parse json from 'kubeadm version %s': %s", rt.args, err)
+				}
+			case "yaml":
+				err := yaml.Unmarshal([]byte(stdout), &obj)
+				if err != nil {
+					t.Errorf("failed to parse yaml from 'kubeadm version %s': %s", rt.args, err)
+				}
+			}
+
+			m := obj.(map[string]interface{})
+			if m["clientVersion"] == nil {
+				t.Errorf("failed to get the infomation of clientVersion from 'kubeadm version %s'", rt.args)
+			}
+			info := m["clientVersion"].(map[string]interface{})
+			for _, key := range VersionInfo {
+				if len(info[key].(string)) == 0 {
+					t.Errorf("failed to get the infomation of %s from 'kubeadm version %s'", key, rt.args)
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}