diff --git a/.eslintignore b/.eslintignore
index d59f8f3846e489..471066e054fc32 100644
--- a/.eslintignore
+++ b/.eslintignore
@@ -13,3 +13,4 @@ website/core/metadata-blog.js
 website/src/react-native/docs/
 website/src/react-native/blog/
 danger/
+scripts/versiontemplates/*
diff --git a/.flowconfig b/.flowconfig
index 70641207371e86..3876e8e6165ac1 100644
--- a/.flowconfig
+++ b/.flowconfig
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@
 ; Ignore polyfills
 .*/Libraries/polyfills/.*
 
+; Version templates contain invalid JS.
+<PROJECT_ROOT>/scripts/versiontemplates/.*
+
 [include]
 
 [libs]
diff --git a/Libraries/Core/InitializeCore.js b/Libraries/Core/InitializeCore.js
index b2c06fa4843614..e0836a7259ff8e 100644
--- a/Libraries/Core/InitializeCore.js
+++ b/Libraries/Core/InitializeCore.js
@@ -116,12 +116,18 @@ if (!global.__fbDisableExceptionsManager) {
   ErrorUtils.setGlobalHandler(handleError);
 }
 
+const formatVersion = version =>
+  `${version.major}.${version.minor}.${version.patch}` +
+  (version.prerelease !== null ? `-rc.${version.prerelease}` : '');
+
 const NativeModules = require('NativeModules');
 const ReactNativeVersion = require('./ReactNativeVersion');
-if (ReactNativeVersion.version !== NativeModules.PlatformConstants.reactNativeVersion) {
+const nativeVersion = NativeModules.PlatformConstants.reactNativeVersion;
+if (ReactNativeVersion.version.major !== nativeVersion.major ||
+    ReactNativeVersion.version.minor !== nativeVersion.minor) {
   throw new Error(
-    `React Native version mismatch.\n\nJavaScript version: ${ReactNativeVersion.version}\n` +
-    `Native version: ${NativeModules.PlatformConstants.reactNativeVersion}\n\n` +
+    `React Native version mismatch.\n\nJavaScript version: ${formatVersion(ReactNativeVersion.version)}\n` +
+    `Native version: ${formatVersion(nativeVersion)}\n\n` +
     'Make sure that you have rebuilt the native code. If the problem persists ' +
     'try clearing the watchman and packager caches with `watchman watch-del-all ' +
     '&& react-native start --reset-cache`.'
diff --git a/Libraries/Core/ReactNativeVersion.js b/Libraries/Core/ReactNativeVersion.js
index a34f8ea39136c3..47b5d5932e538c 100644
--- a/Libraries/Core/ReactNativeVersion.js
+++ b/Libraries/Core/ReactNativeVersion.js
@@ -11,4 +11,9 @@
  * @flow
  */
 
-exports.version = 'master';
+exports.version = {
+  major: 0,
+  minor: 0,
+  patch: 0,
+  prerelease: null,
+};
diff --git a/React/Base/RCTVersion.h b/React/Base/RCTVersion.h
index 55f68eceb2780a..6aa3df5a538508 100644
--- a/React/Base/RCTVersion.h
+++ b/React/Base/RCTVersion.h
@@ -9,4 +9,9 @@
  * of patent rights can be found in the PATENTS file in the same directory.
  */
 
-#define REACT_NATIVE_VERSION @"master"
+#define REACT_NATIVE_VERSION @{ \
+  @"major": @(0), \
+  @"minor": @(0), \
+  @"patch": @(0), \
+  @"prerelease": [NSNull null], \
+}
diff --git a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/ReactNativeVersion.java b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/ReactNativeVersion.java
index b1fb352cec6eb3..5c9c3e0c346725 100644
--- a/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/ReactNativeVersion.java
+++ b/ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/ReactNativeVersion.java
@@ -11,6 +11,14 @@
 
 package com.facebook.react;
 
+import com.facebook.react.common.MapBuilder;
+
+import java.util.Map;
+
 public class ReactNativeVersion {
-  public static final String VERSION = "master";
+  public static final Map<String, Integer> VERSION = MapBuilder.of(
+      "major", 0,
+      "minor", 0,
+      "patch", 0,
+      "prerelease", null);
 }
diff --git a/scripts/bump-oss-version.js b/scripts/bump-oss-version.js
index 0f8fbf1d639640..1e9223cc5c32f4 100755
--- a/scripts/bump-oss-version.js
+++ b/scripts/bump-oss-version.js
@@ -46,21 +46,32 @@ let versionMajor = branch.slice(0, branch.indexOf(`-stable`));
 // e.g. 0.33.1 or 0.33.0-rc4
 let version = argv._[0];
 if (!version || version.indexOf(versionMajor) !== 0) {
-  echo(`You must pass a tag like ${versionMajor}.[X]-rc[Y] to bump a version`);
+  echo(`You must pass a tag like 0.${versionMajor}.[X]-rc[Y] to bump a version`);
   exit(1);
 }
 
 // Generate version files to detect mismatches between JS and native.
+let [, major, minor, patch, prerelease] = version.match(/^(\d+)\.(\d+)\.(\d+)(?:-rc\.(\d+))?$/);
+
 cat('scripts/versiontemplates/ReactNativeVersion.java')
-  .replace('${version}', version)
+  .replace('${major}', major)
+  .replace('${minor}', minor)
+  .replace('${patch}', patch)
+  .replace('${prerelease}', prerelease !== undefined ? prerelease : 'null')
   .to('ReactAndroid/src/main/java/com/facebook/react/ReactNativeVersion.java');
 
 cat('scripts/versiontemplates/RCTVersion.h')
-  .replace('${version}', version)
+  .replace('${major}', `@(${major})`)
+  .replace('${minor}', `@(${minor})`)
+  .replace('${patch}', `@(${patch})`)
+  .replace('${prerelease}', prerelease !== undefined ? `@(${prerelease})` : '[NSNull null]')
   .to('React/Base/RCTVersion.h');
 
 cat('scripts/versiontemplates/ReactNativeVersion.js')
-  .replace('${version}', version)
+  .replace('${major}', major)
+  .replace('${minor}', minor)
+  .replace('${patch}', patch)
+  .replace('${prerelease}', prerelease !== undefined ? prerelease : 'null')
   .to('Libraries/Core/ReactNativeVersion.js');
 
 let packageJson = JSON.parse(cat(`package.json`));
diff --git a/scripts/versiontemplates/RCTVersion.h b/scripts/versiontemplates/RCTVersion.h
index e222ad2f71d199..52fd1c480506e0 100644
--- a/scripts/versiontemplates/RCTVersion.h
+++ b/scripts/versiontemplates/RCTVersion.h
@@ -9,4 +9,9 @@
  * of patent rights can be found in the PATENTS file in the same directory.
  */
 
-#define REACT_NATIVE_VERSION @"${version}"
+#define REACT_NATIVE_VERSION @{ \
+  @"major": ${major}, \
+  @"minor": ${minor}, \
+  @"patch": ${patch}, \
+  @"prerelease": ${prerelease}, \
+}
diff --git a/scripts/versiontemplates/ReactNativeVersion.java b/scripts/versiontemplates/ReactNativeVersion.java
index 5a159799eb5601..f79e64dd3cbbb5 100644
--- a/scripts/versiontemplates/ReactNativeVersion.java
+++ b/scripts/versiontemplates/ReactNativeVersion.java
@@ -11,6 +11,14 @@
 
 package com.facebook.react;
 
+import com.facebook.react.common.MapBuilder;
+
+import java.util.Map;
+
 public class ReactNativeVersion {
-  public static final String VERSION = "${version}";
+  public static final Map<String, Integer> VERSION = MapBuilder.of(
+      "major", ${major},
+      "minor", ${minor},
+      "patch", ${patch},
+      "prerelease", ${prerelease});
 }
diff --git a/scripts/versiontemplates/ReactNativeVersion.js b/scripts/versiontemplates/ReactNativeVersion.js
index 9a5a31cec7a29c..42546234b72447 100644
--- a/scripts/versiontemplates/ReactNativeVersion.js
+++ b/scripts/versiontemplates/ReactNativeVersion.js
@@ -11,4 +11,9 @@
  * @flow
  */
 
-exports.version = '${version}';
+exports.version = {
+  major: ${major},
+  minor: ${minor},
+  patch: ${patch},
+  prerelease: ${prerelease},
+};