diff --git a/ports/unix/main.c b/ports/unix/main.c
index c2a6c8c6b9..ea3154860b 100644
--- a/ports/unix/main.c
+++ b/ports/unix/main.c
@@ -178,8 +178,8 @@ STATIC char *strjoin(const char *s1, int sep_char, const char *s2) {
 #endif
 
 STATIC int do_repl(void) {
-    mp_hal_stdout_tx_str("MicroPython " MICROPY_GIT_TAG " on " MICROPY_BUILD_DATE "; "
-        MICROPY_PY_SYS_PLATFORM " [" MICROPY_PLATFORM_COMPILER "] version\n"
+    mp_hal_stdout_tx_str(MICROPY_BANNER_NAME_AND_VERSION);
+    mp_hal_stdout_tx_str("; " MICROPY_PY_SYS_PLATFORM " [" MICROPY_PLATFORM_COMPILER "] version\n"
         "Use Ctrl-D to exit, Ctrl-E for paste mode\n");
 
     #if MICROPY_USE_READLINE == 1
diff --git a/py/modsys.c b/py/modsys.c
index ac90776226..bdc4d69733 100644
--- a/py/modsys.c
+++ b/py/modsys.c
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 #include "py/smallint.h"
 #include "py/runtime.h"
 #include "py/persistentcode.h"
+#include "genhdr/mpversion.h"
 
 #if MICROPY_PY_SYS_SETTRACE
 #include "py/objmodule.h"
@@ -54,7 +55,7 @@ const mp_print_t mp_sys_stdout_print = {&mp_sys_stdout_obj, mp_stream_write_adap
 #endif
 
 // version - Python language version that this implementation conforms to, as a string
-STATIC const MP_DEFINE_STR_OBJ(mp_sys_version_obj, "3.4.0");
+STATIC const MP_DEFINE_STR_OBJ(mp_sys_version_obj, "3.4.0; " MICROPY_BANNER_NAME_AND_VERSION);
 
 // version_info - Python language version that this implementation conforms to, as a tuple of ints
 #define I(n) MP_OBJ_NEW_SMALL_INT(n)
diff --git a/py/mpconfig.h b/py/mpconfig.h
index c308c31bda..0b190a997b 100644
--- a/py/mpconfig.h
+++ b/py/mpconfig.h
@@ -1714,6 +1714,11 @@ typedef double mp_float_t;
 #define MICROPY_OBJ_BASE_ALIGNMENT
 #endif
 
+// String used for the banner, and sys.version additional information
+#ifndef MICROPY_BANNER_NAME_AND_VERSION
+#define MICROPY_BANNER_NAME_AND_VERSION "MicroPython " MICROPY_GIT_TAG " on " MICROPY_BUILD_DATE
+#endif
+
 // On embedded platforms, these will typically enable/disable irqs.
 #ifndef MICROPY_BEGIN_ATOMIC_SECTION
 #define MICROPY_BEGIN_ATOMIC_SECTION() (0)
diff --git a/shared/runtime/pyexec.c b/shared/runtime/pyexec.c
index 9fde987a4b..eabf2f5673 100644
--- a/shared/runtime/pyexec.c
+++ b/shared/runtime/pyexec.c
@@ -401,7 +401,8 @@ STATIC int pyexec_friendly_repl_process_char(int c) {
         } else if (ret == CHAR_CTRL_B) {
             // reset friendly REPL
             mp_hal_stdout_tx_str("\r\n");
-            mp_hal_stdout_tx_str("MicroPython " MICROPY_GIT_TAG " on " MICROPY_BUILD_DATE "; " MICROPY_HW_BOARD_NAME " with " MICROPY_HW_MCU_NAME "\r\n");
+            mp_hal_stdout_tx_str(MICROPY_BANNER_NAME_AND_VERSION);
+            mp_hal_stdout_tx_str("; " MICROPY_HW_BOARD_NAME " with " MICROPY_HW_MCU_NAME "\r\n");
             #if MICROPY_PY_BUILTINS_HELP
             mp_hal_stdout_tx_str("Type \"help()\" for more information.\r\n");
             #endif
@@ -552,7 +553,8 @@ int pyexec_friendly_repl(void) {
     vstr_init(&line, 32);
 
 friendly_repl_reset:
-    mp_hal_stdout_tx_str("MicroPython " MICROPY_GIT_TAG " on " MICROPY_BUILD_DATE "; " MICROPY_HW_BOARD_NAME " with " MICROPY_HW_MCU_NAME "\r\n");
+    mp_hal_stdout_tx_str(MICROPY_BANNER_NAME_AND_VERSION);
+    mp_hal_stdout_tx_str("; " MICROPY_HW_BOARD_NAME " with " MICROPY_HW_MCU_NAME "\r\n");
     #if MICROPY_PY_BUILTINS_HELP
     mp_hal_stdout_tx_str("Type \"help()\" for more information.\r\n");
     #endif