diff --git a/wxPython/CHANGES.txt b/wxPython/CHANGES.txt
index a084f8763e..de8d3c4081 100644
--- a/wxPython/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/wxPython/CHANGES.txt
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ be deprecated in the future) wxSWIG will use spam(*args, **kw) syntax
 instead.  Also changed the generated __repr__ methods to be a bit more
 informative.
 
+Made the version number information more robust and uh, informative.
+Also added asserts to check that the major.minor versions of wxPython
+and wxWindows match.
 
 
 
diff --git a/wxPython/setup.py b/wxPython/setup.py
index c96ab2fdb6..6a01f1d6e2 100755
--- a/wxPython/setup.py
+++ b/wxPython/setup.py
@@ -13,7 +13,12 @@ from distutils.command.install_data import install_data
 # flags and values that affect this script
 #----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-VERSION          = "2.4.0.8p1"
+VER_MAJOR        = 2      # The first three must match wxWindows
+VER_MINOR        = 4
+VER_RELEASE      = 0
+VER_SUBREL       = 8      # wxPython release num for x.y.z release of wxWindows
+VER_FLAGS        = "p1"   # release flags, such as prerelease num, unicode, etc.
+
 DESCRIPTION      = "Cross platform GUI toolkit for Python"
 AUTHOR           = "Robin Dunn"
 AUTHOR_EMAIL     = "Robin Dunn <robin@alldunn.com>"
@@ -201,7 +206,7 @@ def Verify_WX_CONFIG():
             uf = 'u'
         else:
             uf = ''
-        ver2 = VERSION[:3]
+        ver2 = "%s.%s" % (VER_MAJOR, VER_MINOR)
         WX_CONFIG = 'wx%s%s%s-%s-config' % (WXPORT, uf, df, ver2)
 
         searchpath = os.environ["PATH"]
@@ -483,22 +488,38 @@ else:
 
 
 #----------------------------------------------------------------------
-# post platform setup checks and tweaks
+# post platform setup checks and tweaks, create the full version string
 #----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 if UNICODE:
     BUILD_BASE = BUILD_BASE + '.unicode'
-    VERSION = VERSION + 'u'
+    VER_FLAGS += 'u'
 
 
+VERSION = "%s.%s.%s.%s%s" % (VER_MAJOR, VER_MINOR, VER_RELEASE,
+                             VER_SUBREL, VER_FLAGS)
+
 #----------------------------------------------------------------------
-# Check if the version file needs updated
+# Update the version file
 #----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-##if IN_CVS_TREE and newer('setup.py', 'src/__version__.py'):
+# Unconditionally updated since the version string can change based
+# on the UNICODE flag
+open('src/__version__.py', 'w').write("""\
+# This file was generated by setup.py...
+
+wxVERSION_STRING  = '%(VERSION)s'
+wxMAJOR_VERSION   = %(VER_MAJOR)s
+wxMINOR_VERSION   = %(VER_MINOR)s
+wxRELEASE_VERSION = %(VER_RELEASE)s
+wxSUBREL_VERSION  = %(VER_SUBREL)s
+
+wxVERSION = (wxMAJOR_VERSION, wxMINOR_VERSION, wxRELEASE_VERSION,
+             wxSUBREL_VERSION, '%(VER_FLAGS)s')
+
+wxRELEASE_NUMBER = wxRELEASE_VERSION  # for compatibility
+""" % globals())
 
-# Always do it since the version string can change based on the UNICODE flag
-open('src/__version__.py', 'w').write("ver = '%s'\n" % VERSION)
 
 
 
diff --git a/wxPython/src/__init__.py b/wxPython/src/__init__.py
index 888f664d07..721ee6cb2b 100644
--- a/wxPython/src/__init__.py
+++ b/wxPython/src/__init__.py
@@ -12,13 +12,12 @@
 #----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 import __version__
-__version__ = __version__.ver
+__version__ = __version__.wxVERSION_STRING
 
 
 # Ensure the main extension module is loaded, in case the add-on modules
 # (such as utils,) are used standalone.
 import wxc
-wxc.__version__ = __version__
 
 #----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
diff --git a/wxPython/src/__version__.py b/wxPython/src/__version__.py
index 762269c92f..ad96f71d25 100644
--- a/wxPython/src/__version__.py
+++ b/wxPython/src/__version__.py
@@ -1 +1,12 @@
-ver = '2.4.0.8p1'
+# This file was generated by setup.py...
+
+wxVERSION_STRING  = '2.4.0.8p1'
+wxMAJOR_VERSION   = 2
+wxMINOR_VERSION   = 4
+wxRELEASE_VERSION = 0
+wxSUBREL_VERSION  = 8
+
+wxVERSION = (wxMAJOR_VERSION, wxMINOR_VERSION, wxRELEASE_VERSION,
+             wxSUBREL_VERSION, 'p1')
+
+wxRELEASE_NUMBER = wxRELEASE_VERSION  # for compatibility
diff --git a/wxPython/src/_extras.py b/wxPython/src/_extras.py
index 40b307c43b..4c05555b55 100644
--- a/wxPython/src/_extras.py
+++ b/wxPython/src/_extras.py
@@ -654,15 +654,17 @@ if wxPlatform == "__WXMSW__":
     del os
 
 #----------------------------------------------------------------------
-# wxWindows version numbers.  wxPython version is in __version__.
+# Load version numbers from __version__...  Ensure that major and minor
+# versions are the same for both wxPython and wxWindows.
 
-wxMAJOR_VERSION   = wxc.wxMAJOR_VERSION
-wxMINOR_VERSION   = wxc.wxMINOR_VERSION
-wxRELEASE_NUMBER  = wxc.wxRELEASE_NUMBER
-wxVERSION_STRING  = wxc.wxVERSION_STRING
-wxVERSION_NUMBER  = wxc.wxVERSION_NUMBER
+from wxPython.__version__ import *
+__version__ = wxVERSION_STRING
 
-wxVERSION = (wxMAJOR_VERSION, wxMINOR_VERSION, wxRELEASE_NUMBER)
+assert wxMAJOR_VERSION == wxc.wxMAJOR_VERSION, "wxPython/wxWindows version mismatch"
+assert wxMINOR_VERSION == wxc.wxMINOR_VERSION, "wxPython/wxWindows version mismatch"
+if wxRELEASE_VERSION != wxc.wxRELEASE_VERSION:
+    import warnings
+    warnings.warn("wxPython/wxWindows release number mismatch")
 
 
 #----------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/wxPython/src/wx.i b/wxPython/src/wx.i
index 747fa6839e..5b0091eecf 100644
--- a/wxPython/src/wx.i
+++ b/wxPython/src/wx.i
@@ -54,9 +54,6 @@
 
 //---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-
-#define __version__ "0.0.0"   // The real value is now in setup.py...
-
 %readonly
 wxPoint     wxDefaultPosition;
 wxSize      wxDefaultSize;
@@ -287,17 +284,12 @@ static wxPyCoreAPI API = {
     initfontsc();
 
 
+    // Although these are redfined in __version__ they need to be here too so
+    // that an assert can be done to ensure that the wxPython and the wxWindows
+    // versions match.
     PyDict_SetItemString(d,"wxMAJOR_VERSION", PyInt_FromLong((long)wxMAJOR_VERSION ));
     PyDict_SetItemString(d,"wxMINOR_VERSION", PyInt_FromLong((long)wxMINOR_VERSION ));
-    PyDict_SetItemString(d,"wxRELEASE_NUMBER", PyInt_FromLong((long)wxRELEASE_NUMBER ));
-    PyDict_SetItemString(d,"wxVERSION_NUMBER", PyInt_FromLong((long)wxVERSION_NUMBER ));
-#if wxUSE_UNICODE
-    wxString tempStr(wxVERSION_STRING);
-    PyDict_SetItemString(d,"wxVERSION_STRING", PyUnicode_FromWideChar(tempStr.c_str(), tempStr.Len()));
-#else
-    PyDict_SetItemString(d,"wxVERSION_STRING", PyString_FromString(wxVERSION_STRING));
-#endif
-
+    PyDict_SetItemString(d,"wxRELEASE_VERSION", PyInt_FromLong((long)wxRELEASE_NUMBER ));
 
 %}