diff --git a/.github/workflows/unit.yml b/.github/workflows/unit.yml
index 234515f15..85f9a07f5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/unit.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/unit.yml
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ jobs:
     steps:
     - uses: actions/checkout@v3
     - name: dependencies
-      run: sudo apt-get install -y libelf-dev linux-headers-$(uname -r) shellcheck elfutils
+      run: sudo apt-get install -y libelf-dev linux-headers-$(uname -r) shellcheck elfutils gawk
     - name: make
       run: make
     - name: submodule update
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 37ab1e892..73cc37cda 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -71,7 +71,8 @@ check:
 	shellcheck test/difftree.sh test/integration/kpatch-test		\
 		   test/integration/lib.sh test/integration/rebase-patches	\
 		   test/integration/test-vagrant				\
-		   test/integration/vm-integration-run
+		   test/integration/vm-integration-run test/module-version-test.sh
+	bash test/module-version-test.sh
 
 help:
 	@echo "kpatch Makefile"
diff --git a/kpatch-build/kpatch-build b/kpatch-build/kpatch-build
index 67871a7ba..3285ffc1e 100755
--- a/kpatch-build/kpatch-build
+++ b/kpatch-build/kpatch-build
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ declare -a PATCH_LIST
 APPLIED_PATCHES=0
 OOT_MODULE=
 KLP_REPLACE=1
+MODVERSION=""
 
 GCC="${CROSS_COMPILE:-}gcc"
 CLANG="${CROSS_COMPILE:-}clang"
@@ -785,6 +786,7 @@ usage() {
 	echo "		-j, --jobs              Specify the number of make jobs" >&2
 	echo "		-t, --target            Specify custom kernel build targets" >&2
 	echo "		-n, --name              Specify the name of the kpatch module" >&2
+	echo "		--module-version        Set the patch module's version metadata" >&2
 	echo "		-o, --output            Specify output folder" >&2
 	echo "		-d, --debug             Enable 'xtrace' and keep scratch files" >&2
 	echo "		                        in <CACHEDIR>/tmp" >&2
@@ -803,7 +805,7 @@ if ! command -v gawk &> /dev/null; then
 	die "gawk not installed"
 fi
 
-options="$(getopt -o ha:r:s:c:v:j:t:n:o:dR -l "help,archversion:,sourcerpm:,sourcedir:,config:,vmlinux:,jobs:,target:,name:,output:,oot-module:,oot-module-src:,debug,skip-gcc-check,skip-compiler-check,skip-cleanup,non-replace,version" -- "$@")" || die "getopt failed"
+options="$(getopt -o ha:r:s:c:v:j:t:n:o:dR -l "help,archversion:,sourcerpm:,sourcedir:,config:,vmlinux:,jobs:,target:,name:,module-version:,output:,oot-module:,oot-module-src:,debug,skip-gcc-check,skip-compiler-check,skip-cleanup,non-replace,version" -- "$@")" || die "getopt failed"
 
 eval set -- "$options"
 
@@ -850,6 +852,13 @@ while [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; do
 		MODNAME="$(module_name_string "$2")"
 		shift
 		;;
+	--module-version)
+		# Restrict the value to a safe C string and a single modinfo line.
+		[[ "$2" =~ ^[a-zA-Z0-9][a-zA-Z0-9._+-]{0,63}$ ]] ||
+			die "Invalid module version: expected 1-64 ASCII characters, starting with a letter or digit, followed by letters, digits, '.', '_', '+' or '-'"
+		MODVERSION="$2"
+		shift
+		;;
 	-o|--output)
 		[[ ! -d "$2" ]] && die "output dir '$2' not found"
 		BASE="$(readlink -f "$2")"
@@ -1293,6 +1302,10 @@ remove_patches
 # interfere with cleanup later, so ensure the $TEMPDIR is read/write.
 cp -LR "$DATADIR/patch" "$TEMPDIR" || die
 chmod -R u+rw "$TEMPDIR" || die
+if [[ -n "$MODVERSION" ]]; then
+	printf '\nMODULE_VERSION("%s");\n' "$MODVERSION" >> "$TEMPDIR/patch/patch-hook.c" ||
+		die "Failed to add module version"
+fi
 
 declare -a ARCH_MAKEVARS
 if [[ "$ARCH" = "ppc64le" ]]; then
@@ -1585,6 +1598,12 @@ if [[ "$USE_KLP" -eq 1 ]]; then
 	[[ "$rc" -ne 0 ]] && die "create-klp-module: exited with return code: $rc"
 fi
 
+if [[ -n "$MODVERSION" ]]; then
+	actual_version=$(modinfo -F version "$TEMPDIR/patch/$MODNAME.ko") ||
+		die "Failed to read module version"
+	[[ "$actual_version" = "$MODVERSION" ]] || die "Module version mismatch"
+fi
+
 if [[ -n "$CONFIG_MODVERSIONS" ]]; then
     # Check that final module does not reference symbols with different version
     # than the target kernel
diff --git a/man/kpatch-build.1 b/man/kpatch-build.1
index f0e4d7d6b..e82c01088 100644
--- a/man/kpatch-build.1
+++ b/man/kpatch-build.1
@@ -40,6 +40,16 @@ effect.
 -n|--name
    Specify the name of the kpatch module
 
+--module-version <version>
+   Set MODULE_VERSION metadata in the generated patch module.
+   The value must contain 1-64 ASCII characters: an initial letter or digit,
+   followed by letters, digits, '.', '_', '+' or '-'.
+   Read it with 'modinfo -F version <module.ko>' or, after loading, from
+   /sys/module/<module_name>/version. This is a caller-supplied identifier,
+   not an indication of livepatch activation or symbol version compatibility.
+   If omitted, no version metadata is added. Unlike --version, this option
+   does not print the version of the kpatch-build tool.
+
 -o|--output
    Specify output folder
 
diff --git a/test/module-version-test.sh b/test/module-version-test.sh
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8a5aeb4b4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/module-version-test.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Fast CLI regression tests: no kernel build, Docker, or root access required.
+set -euo pipefail
+export LC_ALL=C
+
+BUILD="$(dirname "$(readlink -f "$0")")/../kpatch-build/kpatch-build"
+TMP=$(mktemp -d)
+trap 'rm -rf "$TMP"' EXIT
+
+fail() {
+	echo "FAIL: $*" >&2
+	exit 1
+}
+
+command -v gawk >/dev/null || fail "gawk is required by kpatch-build"
+
+# --help exits after option parsing, before source preparation or compilation.
+max=$(printf '%064d' 0)
+for version in "0" "1.2.3-rc1+test_2" "0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef01234567" "$max"; do
+	"$BUILD" --module-version "$version" --help >"$TMP/out" 2>"$TMP/err" ||
+		fail "valid version rejected: $version"
+done
+
+for version in "" "${max}0" "-1" "a b" 'a"b' 'a\b' $'a\nb' $'a\rb' \
+		"a/b" "a;exit" "\$(false)" $'\xc3\xa9'; do
+	if "$BUILD" --module-version "$version" --help >"$TMP/out" 2>"$TMP/err"; then
+		fail "invalid version accepted: $version"
+	fi
+	grep -q "Invalid module version" "$TMP/err" ||
+		fail "unexpected failure for invalid version: $version"
+done
+
+if "$BUILD" --module-version >"$TMP/out" 2>"$TMP/err"; then
+	fail "missing argument accepted"
+fi
+grep -q "requires an argument" "$TMP/err" || fail "missing-argument diagnostic not found"
+
+# The new option must not conflict with the existing tool-version option.
+"$BUILD" --version >"$TMP/out" 2>"$TMP/err" || fail "--version failed"
+grep -q "Version :" "$TMP/out" || fail "tool version missing"
+"$BUILD" --help >"$TMP/out" 2>"$TMP/err" || fail "--help failed"
+grep -q -- "--module-version" "$TMP/err" || fail "option missing from help"
+
+echo "module-version CLI tests: PASS"