diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 17d7e9a66d..e1ad8c0c50 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -2447,6 +2447,9 @@ return 0;
         fi
     fi
 
+# get MAJOR_MINOR version for embedding in configuration file.
+    MAJOR_MINOR=`expr "${PACKAGE_VERSION}" : "\([[0-9]]\+\.[[0-9]]\+\).*"`
+
 if test "${enable_ebpf}" = "yes" || test "${enable_unittests}" = "yes"; then
   AC_DEFINE([CAPTURE_OFFLOAD_MANAGER], [1],[Building flow bypass manager code])
 fi
@@ -2546,6 +2549,7 @@ AC_SUBST(CONFIGURE_SYSCONDIR)
 AC_SUBST(CONFIGURE_LOCALSTATEDIR)
 AC_SUBST(CONFIGURE_DATAROOTDIR)
 AC_SUBST(PACKAGE_VERSION)
+AC_SUBST(MAJOR_MINOR)
 AC_SUBST(RUST_FEATURES)
 AC_SUBST(RUST_SURICATA_LIBDIR)
 AC_SUBST(RUST_SURICATA_LIBNAME)
diff --git a/suricata.yaml.in b/suricata.yaml.in
index 34126d7355..e80e8a0d72 100644
--- a/suricata.yaml.in
+++ b/suricata.yaml.in
@@ -4,9 +4,9 @@
 # Suricata configuration file. In addition to the comments describing all
 # options in this file, full documentation can be found at:
 # https://suricata.readthedocs.io/en/latest/configuration/suricata-yaml.html
-#
-# This configuration file generated by:
-#     Suricata @PACKAGE_VERSION@
+
+# This configuration file generated by Suricata @PACKAGE_VERSION@.
+suricata-version: "@MAJOR_MINOR@"
 
 ##
 ## Step 1: Inform Suricata about your network