diff --git a/bootstrap_sdk b/bootstrap_sdk
index aad43d9361..2035aeb0a0 100755
--- a/bootstrap_sdk
+++ b/bootstrap_sdk
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ catalyst_init "$@"
 check_gsutil_opts
 
 if [[ "$STAGES" =~ stage4 ]]; then
-    info "Setting release to ${COREOS_VERSION_STRING}"
+    info "Setting release to ${COREOS_VERSION}"
     rm -rf "${TEMPDIR}/stage4_overlay"
     # need to setup the lib->lib64 symlink correctly
     libdir=$(get_sdk_libdir)
diff --git a/build_image b/build_image
index d51791d2cc..fc3d9debdc 100755
--- a/build_image
+++ b/build_image
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ tee "${BUILD_DIR}/version.txt" <<EOF
 COREOS_BUILD=${SPLIT[0]}
 COREOS_BRANCH=${SPLIT[1]}
 COREOS_PATCH=${SPLIT[2]}
-COREOS_VERSION=${COREOS_VERSION_STRING}
+COREOS_VERSION=${COREOS_VERSION}
 COREOS_VERSION_ID=${COREOS_VERSION_ID}
 COREOS_BUILD_ID="${COREOS_BUILD_ID}"
 COREOS_SDK_VERSION=${COREOS_SDK_VERSION}
diff --git a/build_library/build_image_util.sh b/build_library/build_image_util.sh
index 54ccaffd32..a600fb3755 100755
--- a/build_library/build_image_util.sh
+++ b/build_library/build_image_util.sh
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 # Use canonical path since some tools (e.g. mount) do not like symlinks.
 # Append build attempt to output directory.
 if [ -z "${FLAGS_version}" ]; then
-  IMAGE_SUBDIR="${FLAGS_group}-${COREOS_VERSION_STRING}-a${FLAGS_build_attempt}"
+  IMAGE_SUBDIR="${FLAGS_group}-${COREOS_VERSION}-a${FLAGS_build_attempt}"
 else
   IMAGE_SUBDIR="${FLAGS_group}-${FLAGS_version}"
 fi
diff --git a/build_library/catalyst.sh b/build_library/catalyst.sh
index 0e853a4517..861f1b7da1 100644
--- a/build_library/catalyst.sh
+++ b/build_library/catalyst.sh
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ DEFINE_string coreos_overlay "${SRC_ROOT}/third_party/coreos-overlay" \
     "Path to the coreos-overlay git checkout."
 DEFINE_string seed_tarball "${DEFAULT_SEED}" \
     "Path to an existing stage tarball to start from."
-DEFINE_string version "${COREOS_VERSION_STRING}" \
+DEFINE_string version "${COREOS_VERSION}" \
     "Version to use for portage snapshot and stage tarballs."
 DEFINE_string profile "${DEFAULT_PROFILE}" \
     "Portage profile, may be prefixed with repo:"
diff --git a/build_library/release_util.sh b/build_library/release_util.sh
index db32cd12c1..fce5072f3f 100644
--- a/build_library/release_util.sh
+++ b/build_library/release_util.sh
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ upload_packages() {
     [[ -n "${BOARD}" ]] || die "board_options.sh must be sourced first"
 
     local board_packages="${1:-"${BOARD_ROOT}/packages"}"
-    local def_upload_path="${UPLOAD_ROOT}/boards/${BOARD}/${COREOS_VERSION_STRING}"
+    local def_upload_path="${UPLOAD_ROOT}/boards/${BOARD}/${COREOS_VERSION}"
     upload_files packages ${def_upload_path} "pkgs/" "${board_packages}"/*
 }
 
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ upload_image() {
     fi
 
     local log_msg=$(basename "$digests" .DIGESTS)
-    local def_upload_path="${UPLOAD_ROOT}/boards/${BOARD}/${COREOS_VERSION_STRING}"
+    local def_upload_path="${UPLOAD_ROOT}/boards/${BOARD}/${COREOS_VERSION}"
     sign_and_upload_files "${log_msg}" "${def_upload_path}" "" "${uploads[@]}"
 }
 
@@ -207,9 +207,9 @@ download_image_url() {
         download_path="${FLAGS_download_path%%/}"
     elif [[ "${download_root}" = *release.core-os.net* ]]; then
         # Official release download paths don't include the boards directory
-        download_path="${download_root%%/}/${BOARD}/${COREOS_VERSION_STRING}"
+        download_path="${download_root%%/}/${BOARD}/${COREOS_VERSION}"
     else
-        download_path="${download_root%%/}/boards/${BOARD}/${COREOS_VERSION_STRING}"
+        download_path="${download_root%%/}/boards/${BOARD}/${COREOS_VERSION}"
     fi
 
     # Just in case download_root was set from UPLOAD_ROOT
diff --git a/build_library/set_lsb_release b/build_library/set_lsb_release
index e2b996cdfd..9ba4157fb0 100755
--- a/build_library/set_lsb_release
+++ b/build_library/set_lsb_release
@@ -31,9 +31,9 @@ COREOS_VERSION_NAME="CoreOS"
 sudo mkdir -p "${ROOT_FS_DIR}/usr/share/coreos" "${ROOT_FS_DIR}/etc/coreos"
 sudo_clobber "${ROOT_FS_DIR}/usr/share/coreos/lsb-release" <<EOF
 DISTRIB_ID=$COREOS_VERSION_NAME
-DISTRIB_RELEASE=$COREOS_VERSION_STRING
+DISTRIB_RELEASE=$COREOS_VERSION
 DISTRIB_CODENAME="Red Dog"
-DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="$COREOS_VERSION_NAME $COREOS_VERSION_STRING"
+DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="$COREOS_VERSION_NAME $COREOS_VERSION"
 EOF
 sudo ln -sf "../usr/share/coreos/lsb-release" "${ROOT_FS_DIR}/etc/lsb-release"
 
@@ -43,10 +43,10 @@ OS_ID=$(tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' <<<"$COREOS_VERSION_NAME")
 sudo_clobber "${ROOT_FS_DIR}/usr/lib/os-release" <<EOF
 NAME=$COREOS_VERSION_NAME
 ID=$OS_ID
-VERSION=$COREOS_VERSION_STRING
+VERSION=$COREOS_VERSION
 VERSION_ID=$COREOS_VERSION_ID
 BUILD_ID=$COREOS_BUILD_ID
-PRETTY_NAME="$COREOS_VERSION_NAME $COREOS_VERSION_STRING"
+PRETTY_NAME="$COREOS_VERSION_NAME $COREOS_VERSION"
 ANSI_COLOR="1;32"
 HOME_URL="https://coreos.com/"
 BUG_REPORT_URL="https://github.com/coreos/bugs/issues"
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ sudo ln -sf "../../lib/os-release" "${ROOT_FS_DIR}/usr/share/coreos/os-release"
 
 # Create the defaults for the coreos configuration files in the usr directory
 sudo_clobber "${ROOT_FS_DIR}/usr/share/coreos/release" <<EOF
-COREOS_RELEASE_VERSION=$COREOS_VERSION_STRING
+COREOS_RELEASE_VERSION=$COREOS_VERSION
 COREOS_RELEASE_BOARD=$FLAGS_board
 EOF
 
diff --git a/build_library/vm_image_util.sh b/build_library/vm_image_util.sh
index 152f720777..2dc455f5fd 100644
--- a/build_library/vm_image_util.sh
+++ b/build_library/vm_image_util.sh
@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@ set_vm_paths() {
     VM_TMP_DIR="${dst_dir}/${dst_name}.vmtmpdir"
     VM_TMP_IMG="${VM_TMP_DIR}/disk_image.bin"
     VM_TMP_ROOT="${VM_TMP_DIR}/rootfs"
-    VM_NAME="$(_src_to_dst_name "${src_name}" "")-${COREOS_VERSION_STRING}"
+    VM_NAME="$(_src_to_dst_name "${src_name}" "")-${COREOS_VERSION}"
     VM_README="${dst_dir}/$(_src_to_dst_name "${src_name}" ".README")"
 
     # Make VM_NAME safe for use as a hostname
@@ -1127,7 +1127,7 @@ vm_upload() {
         cp "${digests}.asc" "${legacy_digests}.asc"
     fi
 
-    local def_upload_path="${UPLOAD_ROOT}/boards/${BOARD}/${COREOS_VERSION_STRING}"
+    local def_upload_path="${UPLOAD_ROOT}/boards/${BOARD}/${COREOS_VERSION}"
     upload_files "$(_dst_name)" "${def_upload_path}" "" "${legacy_uploads[@]}"
 }
 
diff --git a/core_pre_alpha b/core_pre_alpha
index c226072a04..c05b60dc44 100755
--- a/core_pre_alpha
+++ b/core_pre_alpha
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ export GCLIENT_ROOT=$(readlink -f "${SCRIPT_ROOT}/../../")
 
 DEFINE_string board "amd64-usr" \
     "Board type of the image"
-DEFINE_string version "${COREOS_VERSION_STRING}" \
+DEFINE_string version "${COREOS_VERSION}" \
     "Version number to promote."
 
 DEFINE_string build_storage "gs://builds.release.core-os.net" \
diff --git a/core_promote b/core_promote
index 22b94655f2..6e645b7304 100755
--- a/core_promote
+++ b/core_promote
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ export GCLIENT_ROOT=$(readlink -f "${SCRIPT_ROOT}/../../")
 
 DEFINE_string board "amd64-usr" \
     "Board type of the image"
-DEFINE_string version "${COREOS_VERSION_STRING}" \
+DEFINE_string version "${COREOS_VERSION}" \
     "Version number to promote."
 DEFINE_string channel "alpha" \
     "Roller channel to promote this version to."
diff --git a/core_roller_upload b/core_roller_upload
index 12612e5f78..bdddb0ea39 100755
--- a/core_roller_upload
+++ b/core_roller_upload
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ DEFINE_string board "amd64-usr" \
     "Board type of the image"
 DEFINE_string payload "coreos_production_update.gz" \
     "Path to the update payload"
-DEFINE_string version "${COREOS_VERSION_STRING}" \
+DEFINE_string version "${COREOS_VERSION}" \
     "Version number of this build."
 DEFINE_string app_id "e96281a6-d1af-4bde-9a0a-97b76e56dc57" \
     "CoreOS AppId in roller."
diff --git a/update_chroot b/update_chroot
index 6490bf1ede..d8106697a1 100755
--- a/update_chroot
+++ b/update_chroot
@@ -158,14 +158,14 @@ fi
 
 info "Updating chroot:"
 info " chroot version: $OLDVER"
-info " CoreOS version: $COREOS_VERSION_STRING"
+info " CoreOS version: $COREOS_VERSION"
 
 # Updates should be of the form 1.2.3_desc.sh
 for update_script in ${SCRIPTS_DIR}/sdk_lib/updates/*.sh; do
   update_name="${update_script##*/}"
   update_ver="${update_name%%_*}"
   # Run newer updates but don't pass our current version
-  if ! cmp_ver le "$update_ver" "$COREOS_VERSION_STRING"; then
+  if ! cmp_ver le "$update_ver" "$COREOS_VERSION"; then
       warn "Skipping update from the future: $update_name"
       warn "Perhaps it is time to run a repo sync?"
   elif ! cmp_ver ge "$OLDVER" "$update_ver"; then