diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 0be8521645..c3e702a965 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -64,6 +64,8 @@ WORKDIR ${GOPATH}/src/github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes
 # force code generation
 RUN make WHAT=cmd/kube-apiserver
 ARG TAG
+ARG MAJOR
+ARG MINOR
 # build statically linked executables
 RUN echo "export GIT_COMMIT=$(git rev-parse HEAD)" \
     >> /usr/local/go/bin/go-build-static-k8s.sh
@@ -71,10 +73,14 @@ RUN echo "export BUILD_DATE=$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)" \
     >> /usr/local/go/bin/go-build-static-k8s.sh
 RUN echo "export GO_LDFLAGS=\"-linkmode=external \
     -X k8s.io/component-base/version.gitVersion=${TAG} \
+    -X k8s.io/component-base/version.gitMajor=${MAJOR} \
+    -X k8s.io/component-base/version.gitMinor=${MINOR} \
     -X k8s.io/component-base/version.gitCommit=\${GIT_COMMIT} \
     -X k8s.io/component-base/version.gitTreeState=clean \
     -X k8s.io/component-base/version.buildDate=\${BUILD_DATE} \
     -X k8s.io/client-go/pkg/version.gitVersion=${TAG} \
+    -X k8s.io/client-go/pkg/version.gitMajor=${MAJOR} \
+    -X k8s.io/client-go/pkg/version.gitMinor=${MINOR} \
     -X k8s.io/client-go/pkg/version.gitCommit=\${GIT_COMMIT} \
     -X k8s.io/client-go/pkg/version.gitTreeState=clean \
     -X k8s.io/client-go/pkg/version.buildDate=\${BUILD_DATE} \
diff --git a/scripts/build-image-kubernetes b/scripts/build-image-kubernetes
index 904461a234..847e1bca12 100755
--- a/scripts/build-image-kubernetes
+++ b/scripts/build-image-kubernetes
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ source ./scripts/version.sh
 
 DOCKER_BUILDKIT=${DOCKER_BUILDKIT:-1} docker image build \
     --build-arg TAG=${VERSION} \
+    --build-arg MAJOR=${VERSION_MAJOR} \
+    --build-arg MINOR=${VERSION_MINOR} \
     --build-arg KUBERNETES_VERSION=${KUBERNETES_VERSION} \
     --tag ${REPO}/hardened-kubernetes:${DOCKERIZED_VERSION} \
     --tag ${REPO}/hardened-kubernetes:${DOCKERIZED_VERSION}-${GOARCH} \
diff --git a/scripts/version.sh b/scripts/version.sh
index fe77468a99..544b624957 100755
--- a/scripts/version.sh
+++ b/scripts/version.sh
@@ -53,4 +53,9 @@ else
     VERSION="${KUBERNETES_VERSION}-dev+${COMMIT:0:8}$DIRTY"
 fi
 
+if [[ "${VERSION}" =~ ^v([0-9]+)\.([0-9]+)(\.[0-9]+)?([-+].*)?$ ]]; then
+    VERSION_MAJOR=${BASH_REMATCH[1]}
+    VERSION_MINOR=${BASH_REMATCH[2]}
+fi
+
 DOCKERIZED_VERSION="${VERSION/+/-}" # this mimics what kubernetes builds do