diff --git a/configargparse.py b/configargparse.py
index f0899cc..d26d88f 100644
--- a/configargparse.py
+++ b/configargparse.py
@@ -422,6 +422,7 @@ def parse_known_args(self, args = None, namespace = None,
                 config_file_keys = self.get_possible_config_keys(a)
                 if config_file_keys and not (a.env_var or a.is_positional_arg
                     or a.is_config_file_arg or a.is_write_out_config_file_arg or
+                    isinstance(a, argparse._VersionAction) or
                     isinstance(a, argparse._HelpAction)):
                     stripped_config_file_key = config_file_keys[0].strip(
                         self.prefix_chars)