diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index b1c4864c7a..16d7edb2dd 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -88,8 +88,13 @@ STORED_VERSION=$(shell cat $(STORED_VERSION_FILE) 2>/dev/null)
 ifneq ($(STORED_VERSION),)
   FORGEJO_VERSION ?= $(STORED_VERSION)
 else
-  # drop the "g" prefix prepended by git describe to the commit hash
-  FORGEJO_VERSION ?= $(shell git describe --exclude '*-test' --tags --always | sed 's/^v//' | sed 's/\-g/-/')+${GITEA_COMPATIBILITY}
+  ifneq ($(GITEA_VERSION),)
+    FORGEJO_VERSION ?= $(GITEA_VERSION)
+    FORGEJO_VERSION_API ?= $(GITEA_VERSION)+${GITEA_COMPATIBILITY}
+  else
+    # drop the "g" prefix prepended by git describe to the commit hash
+    FORGEJO_VERSION ?= $(shell git describe --exclude '*-test' --tags --always | sed 's/^v//' | sed 's/\-g/-/')+${GITEA_COMPATIBILITY}
+  endif
 endif
 FORGEJO_VERSION_MAJOR=$(shell echo $(FORGEJO_VERSION) | sed -e 's/\..*//')
 FORGEJO_VERSION_MINOR=$(shell echo $(FORGEJO_VERSION) | sed -E -e 's/^([0-9]+\.[0-9]+).*/\1/')
@@ -106,7 +111,12 @@ show-version-minor:
 RELEASE_VERSION ?= ${FORGEJO_VERSION}
 VERSION ?= ${RELEASE_VERSION}
 
-LDFLAGS := $(LDFLAGS) -X "main.ReleaseVersion=$(RELEASE_VERSION)" -X "main.MakeVersion=$(MAKE_VERSION)" -X "main.Version=$(FORGEJO_VERSION)" -X "main.Tags=$(TAGS)" -X "main.ForgejoVersion=$(FORGEJO_VERSION)"
+FORGEJO_VERSION_API ?= ${FORGEJO_VERSION}
+
+show-version-api:
+	@echo ${FORGEJO_VERSION_API}
+
+LDFLAGS := $(LDFLAGS) -X "main.ReleaseVersion=$(RELEASE_VERSION)" -X "main.MakeVersion=$(MAKE_VERSION)" -X "main.Version=$(FORGEJO_VERSION)" -X "main.Tags=$(TAGS)" -X "main.ForgejoVersion=$(FORGEJO_VERSION_API)"
 
 LINUX_ARCHS ?= linux/amd64,linux/386,linux/arm-5,linux/arm-6,linux/arm64