diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b6ca61d70401..4329dae09be7 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-# Kibana 4.1.0-snapshot
+# Kibana <!--version-->4.1.0-snapshot<!--/version-->
 
 [![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/elasticsearch/kibana.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/elasticsearch/kibana?branch=master)
 
diff --git a/tasks/utils/updateVersion.js b/tasks/utils/updateVersion.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..b4cc19d43937
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tasks/utils/updateVersion.js
@@ -0,0 +1,134 @@
+var _ = require('lodash');
+
+module.exports = updateVersion;
+
+var versions = [
+  'major',
+  'minor',
+  'patch',
+  'tag'
+];
+
+/**
+ * change the version based on a basic expression
+ *
+ * Expressions have two pieces, the version piece to
+ * set and the new value. If the version peice is not
+ * "tag" then the new value can be left of and the preivous
+ * value will simply be incremented by one. if the version
+ * peice is tag, some special rules apply:
+ * 	  1. leaving the value empty will remove a tag
+ * 		2. adding a new tag bumps the minor version
+ *
+ * examples:
+ *
+ * 	expr: minor
+ * 	1.4.1 => 1.5.0
+ *
+ * 	expr: minor=10
+ * 	1.5.5 => 1.10.0
+ *
+ *  expr: major=4
+ *  0.0.1 => 4.0.0
+ *
+ *  expr: tag=beta2
+ *  4.0.0-beta1 => 4.0.0-beta2
+ *
+ *  expr: tag=snapshot
+ *  4.0.0 => 4.1.0-snapshot
+ *
+ *  expr: tag=
+ *  4.0.0-rc1 => 4.0.0
+ *
+ */
+function updateVersion(version, expr) {
+  expr = String(expr).split('=');
+
+  var change = {
+    name: expr[0],
+    val: expr[1] || null
+  };
+
+  if (!_.contains(versions, change.name)) {
+    throw new Error('version update expression needs to start with one of ' + versions.join(', '));
+  }
+
+  if (change.name === 'tag' && change.val) {
+    change.val = change.val.toLowerCase();
+  }
+
+  // parse the current version
+  var parts = _.chain(version.split('.'))
+
+  // ensure that their are three pieces, either x.x.x or x.x.x-y
+  .tap(function (versionNumbers) {
+    if (versionNumbers.length !== 3) {
+      throw new Error('Version number "' + version + '" should have two dots, like 4.1.0');
+    }
+  })
+
+  // describe all of the version parts with a name, parse
+  // the numbers, and extract tag from patch
+  .transform(function (parts, v, i) {
+    var name = versions[i];
+
+    if (name !== 'patch') {
+      parts[name] = _.parseInt(v);
+      return;
+    }
+
+    // patch is two parts, a version number and an optional tag
+    v = v.split('-');
+    parts.patch = _.parseInt(v.shift());
+    parts.tag = v.join('-');
+  }, {})
+
+  // sanity check
+  .tap(function (parts) {
+
+    var valid = true;
+    valid = valid && _.isNumber(parts.major);
+    valid = valid && _.isNumber(parts.minor);
+    valid = valid && _.isNumber(parts.patch);
+    valid = valid && _.isString(parts.tag);
+
+    if (!valid) {
+      throw new Error('Unable to parse version "' + version + '"');
+    }
+
+  })
+
+  // perform the change on parts
+  .tap(function (parts) {
+    if (change.name === 'tag' && change.val && !parts.tag) {
+      // special operation that doesn't follow the natural rules
+      parts.minor += 1;
+      parts.patch = 0;
+      parts.tag = change.val;
+      return;
+    }
+
+    // since the version parts are in order from left to right, the update
+    // reset all of the values to the right of it:
+    //
+    // 0.12.3-beta -> 1.0.0 (increment major, reset everything else)
+
+    // primary update
+    if (change.name === 'tag') {
+      parts[change.name] = change.val;
+    } else {
+      parts[change.name] = (change.val == null) ? parts[change.name] + 1 : change.val;
+    }
+
+    // properties that are zero-d by the previous update
+    var emptyUpdates = versions.slice(versions.indexOf(change.name) + 1);
+    while(emptyUpdates.length) {
+      parts[emptyUpdates.shift()] = '';
+    }
+  })
+  .value();
+
+  return (parts.major || 0) + '.' +
+         (parts.minor || 0) + '.' +
+         (parts.patch || 0) + (parts.tag ? '-' + parts.tag : '');
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tasks/version.js b/tasks/version.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..392e87689885
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tasks/version.js
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+module.exports = function (grunt) {
+  var root = require('path').resolve.bind(null, __dirname, '..');
+  var updateVersion = require('./utils/updateVersion');
+
+  var README_PATH = root('README.md');
+  var PKG_JSON_PATH = root('package.json');
+  var START = '<!--version-->';
+  var END = '<!--/version-->';
+
+  grunt.registerTask('version', function (updateExpr) {
+    var oldVersion = grunt.config.get('pkg.version');
+    var version = updateVersion(oldVersion, updateExpr);
+    grunt.log.debug('switching from %s to %s', oldVersion, version);
+
+    // update grunt config
+    grunt.config.set('pkg.version', version);
+
+    // write back to package.json
+    var pkgJson = grunt.file.read(PKG_JSON_PATH);
+    pkgJson = pkgJson.replace(JSON.stringify(oldVersion), JSON.stringify(version));
+    grunt.file.write(PKG_JSON_PATH, pkgJson);
+    grunt.log.ok('updated package.json', version);
+
+    // write the readme
+    var input = grunt.file.read(README_PATH);
+    var readme = '';
+
+    var startI, endI, before;
+    while (input.length) {
+      startI = input.indexOf(START);
+      endI = input.indexOf(END);
+      if (endI < startI) throw new Error('version tag mismatch in ' + input);
+
+      if (startI < 0) {
+        readme += input;
+        break;
+      }
+
+      before = input.substr(0, startI);
+      input = input.substr(endI ? endI + END.length : startI);
+
+      readme += before + START + version + END;
+    }
+
+    grunt.file.write(README_PATH, readme);
+    grunt.log.ok('updated readme', version);
+  });
+};