diff --git a/src/redist/targets/GenerateLayout.targets b/src/redist/targets/GenerateLayout.targets
index eeba43ffb..22aefefc0 100644
--- a/src/redist/targets/GenerateLayout.targets
+++ b/src/redist/targets/GenerateLayout.targets
@@ -212,10 +212,17 @@
       ReplacementStrings="$(ReplacementString)" />
   </Target>
   
+  <Target Name="GenerateVersionFile" DependsOnTargets="SetupBundledComponents;GetCoreSdkGitCommitInfo">
+    <WriteLinesToFile File="$(SdkOutputDirectory).version"
+                      Lines="$(GitCommitHash);$(SdkVersion);$(Rid)"
+                      Overwrite="true" />
+  </Target>
+  
   <Target Name="GenerateLayout"
           DependsOnTargets="DownloadBundledComponents;
                             CleanLayoutPath;
                             ExtractBundledComponents;
+                            GenerateVersionFile;
                             GenerateBundledVersions;
                             LayoutTemplates;
                             LayoutBundledTools;
diff --git a/test/EndToEnd/VersionTests.cs b/test/EndToEnd/VersionTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c8b53c6be
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/EndToEnd/VersionTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+using System;
+using System.IO;
+using System.Linq;
+using System.Xml.Linq;
+using FluentAssertions;
+using Microsoft.DotNet.TestFramework;
+using Microsoft.DotNet.Tools.Test.Utilities;
+using Xunit;
+
+namespace EndToEnd.Tests
+{
+    public class VersionTests : TestBase
+    {
+        [Fact]
+        public void DotnetVersionReturnsCorrectVersion()
+        {
+            var result = new DotnetCommand()
+                .ExecuteWithCapturedOutput("--version");
+
+            result.Should().Pass();
+
+            var dotnetFolder = Path.GetDirectoryName(RepoDirectoriesProvider.DotnetUnderTest);
+
+            var sdkFolders = Directory.GetDirectories(Path.Combine(dotnetFolder, "sdk"));
+
+            sdkFolders.Length.Should().Be(1, "Only one SDK folder is expected in the layout");
+
+            var expectedSdkVersion = Path.GetFileName(sdkFolders.Single());
+
+            result.StdOut.Trim().Should().Be(expectedSdkVersion);
+        }
+    }
+}