diff --git a/src/cli/commands/version.js b/src/cli/commands/version.js
index dc322616e0..6bb8447a2f 100644
--- a/src/cli/commands/version.js
+++ b/src/cli/commands/version.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 'use strict'
 
+const os = require('os')
 const print = require('../utils').print
 
 module.exports = {
@@ -32,22 +33,24 @@ module.exports = {
   },
 
   handler (argv) {
-    argv.ipfs.version((err, ipfs) => {
+    argv.ipfs.version((err, data) => {
       if (err) {
         throw err
       }
 
       const withCommit = argv.all || argv.commit
-      const parsedVersion = `${ipfs.version}${withCommit ? `-${ipfs.commit}` : ''}`
+      const parsedVersion = `${data.version}${withCommit ? `-${data.commit}` : ''}`
 
       if (argv.repo) {
         // go-ipfs prints only the number, even without the --number flag.
-        print(ipfs.repo)
+        print(data.repo)
       } else if (argv.number) {
         print(parsedVersion)
       } else if (argv.all) {
         print(`js-ipfs version: ${parsedVersion}`)
-        print(`Repo version: ${ipfs.repo}`)
+        print(`Repo version: ${data.repo}`)
+        print(`System version: ${os.arch()}/${os.platform()}`)
+        print(`Node.js version: ${process.version}`)
       } else {
         print(`js-ipfs version: ${parsedVersion}`)
       }
diff --git a/src/core/components/repo.js b/src/core/components/repo.js
index 989e07fd9e..dc330aba0e 100644
--- a/src/core/components/repo.js
+++ b/src/core/components/repo.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 'use strict'
 
 const promisify = require('promisify-es6')
+const repoVersion = require('ipfs-repo').repoVersion
 
 module.exports = function repo (self) {
   return {
@@ -8,8 +9,25 @@ module.exports = function repo (self) {
       // 1. check if repo already exists
     },
 
+    /**
+     * If the repo has been initialized, report the current version.
+     * Otherwise report the version that would be initialized.
+     *
+     * @param {function(Error, Number)} [callback]
+     * @returns {undefined}
+     */
     version: promisify((callback) => {
-      self._repo.version.get(callback)
+      self._repo._isInitialized(err => {
+        if (err) {
+          if (/ENOENT|not yet initialized/.test(err.message)) {
+            // this repo has not been initialized
+            return callback(null, repoVersion)
+          }
+          return callback(err)
+        }
+
+        self._repo.version.get(callback)
+      })
     }),
 
     gc: () => {},
diff --git a/src/core/components/version.js b/src/core/components/version.js
index 0f3fa2c1e1..1afbc7a7fb 100644
--- a/src/core/components/version.js
+++ b/src/core/components/version.js
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ module.exports = function version (self) {
 
     self.repo.version((err, repoVersion) => {
       if (err) {
-        throw err
+        callback(err)
       }
 
       callback(null, {
diff --git a/test/cli/files.js b/test/cli/files.js
index 738b07e317..9fa95a0401 100644
--- a/test/cli/files.js
+++ b/test/cli/files.js
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 /* eslint-env mocha */
 'use strict'
 
-const expect = require('chai').expect
 const fs = require('fs')
+const expect = require('chai').expect
 const path = require('path')
 const compareDir = require('dir-compare').compareSync
 const rimraf = require('rimraf').sync
diff --git a/test/cli/repo.js b/test/cli/repo.js
index dd1e29533d..17c04aaaa3 100644
--- a/test/cli/repo.js
+++ b/test/cli/repo.js
@@ -1,23 +1,16 @@
 /* eslint-env mocha */
 'use strict'
 
-const fs = require('fs')
-const path = require('path')
 const expect = require('chai').expect
-const runOnAndOff = require('../utils/on-and-off')
+const repoVersion = require('ipfs-repo').repoVersion
 
-function getRepoVersion (repoPath) {
-  const versionPath = path.join(repoPath, 'version')
-  return String(fs.readFileSync(versionPath))
-}
+const runOnAndOff = require('../utils/on-and-off')
 
 describe('repo', () => runOnAndOff((thing) => {
   let ipfs
-  let repoVersion
 
   before(() => {
     ipfs = thing.ipfs
-    repoVersion = getRepoVersion(ipfs.repoPath)
   })
 
   it('get the repo version', () => {
diff --git a/test/cli/version.js b/test/cli/version.js
index ba86356088..5bf740eb15 100644
--- a/test/cli/version.js
+++ b/test/cli/version.js
@@ -1,59 +1,69 @@
+/* eslint max-nested-callbacks: ["error", 5] */
 /* eslint-env mocha */
 'use strict'
 
-const fs = require('fs')
-const path = require('path')
+const os = require('os')
 const expect = require('chai').expect
+const repoVersion = require('ipfs-repo').repoVersion
 const pkgversion = require('../../package.json').version
 const runOnAndOff = require('../utils/on-and-off')
 
-function getRepoVersion (repoPath) {
-  const versionPath = path.join(repoPath, 'version')
-  return String(fs.readFileSync(versionPath))
-}
-
 describe('version', () => runOnAndOff((thing) => {
   let ipfs
-  let repoVersion
 
   before(() => {
     ipfs = thing.ipfs
-    repoVersion = getRepoVersion(ipfs.repoPath)
   })
 
-  it('get the version', () => {
-    return ipfs('version').then((out) => {
+  it('get the version', () =>
+    ipfs('version').then(out =>
       expect(out).to.eql(
         `js-ipfs version: ${pkgversion}\n`
       )
-    })
-  })
+    )
+  )
 
-  it('handles --number', () => {
-    return ipfs('version --number').then(out =>
+  it('handles --number', () =>
+    ipfs('version --number').then(out =>
       expect(out).to.eql(`${pkgversion}\n`)
     )
-  })
+  )
 
-  it('handles --commit', () => {
-    return ipfs('version --commit').then(out =>
+  it('handles --commit', () =>
+    ipfs('version --commit').then(out =>
       expect(out).to.eql(`js-ipfs version: ${pkgversion}-\n`)
     )
-  })
+  )
 
-  it('handles --all', () => {
-    return ipfs('version --all').then(out =>
-      expect(out).to.include(
-        `js-ipfs version: ${pkgversion}-
-Repo version: ${repoVersion}
-`
-      )
+  describe('handles --all', function () {
+    it('prints js-ipfs version', () =>
+      ipfs('version --all').then(out => {
+        expect(out).to.include(`js-ipfs version: ${pkgversion}`)
+      })
+    )
+
+    it('prints repo version', () =>
+      ipfs('version --all').then(out => {
+        expect(out).to.include(`Repo version: ${repoVersion}`)
+      })
+    )
+
+    it('prints arch/platform', () =>
+      ipfs('version --all').then(out => {
+        expect(out).to.include(`System version: ${os.arch()}/${os.platform()}`)
+      })
+    )
+
+    it('prints Node.js version', () =>
+      ipfs('version --all').then(out => {
+        expect(out).to.include(`Node.js version: ${process.version}`)
+      })
     )
   })
 
-  it('handles --repo', () => {
-    return ipfs('version --repo').then(out => {
+  it('handles --repo', () =>
+    ipfs('version --repo').then(out =>
       expect(out).to.eql(`${repoVersion}\n`)
-    })
-  })
+    )
+  )
 }))
diff --git a/test/sharness/t0010-basic-commands.sh b/test/sharness/t0010-basic-commands.sh
index 402485051b..92f4354fdd 100755
--- a/test/sharness/t0010-basic-commands.sh
+++ b/test/sharness/t0010-basic-commands.sh
@@ -28,7 +28,10 @@ test_expect_success "ipfs version output looks good" '
 
 test_expect_success "ipfs version --all has all required fields" '
 	ipfs version --all > version_all.txt &&
-	grep "js-ipfs version" version_all.txt
+	grep "js-ipfs version" version_all.txt &&
+  grep "Repo version" version_all.txt &&
+	grep "System version" version_all.txt &&
+	grep "Node.js version" version_all.txt
 '
 
 test_expect_success "ipfs help succeeds" '