diff --git a/caddy.go b/caddy.go
index 584865bd..082b9b6c 100644
--- a/caddy.go
+++ b/caddy.go
@@ -840,7 +840,10 @@ func InstanceID() (uuid.UUID, error) {
 // and https://github.com/golang/go/issues/50603.
 //
 // This function is experimental and subject to change or removal.
+var ShortVersion = "(devel)"
+
 func Version() (simple, full string) {
+	return ShortVersion, ShortVersion
 	// the currently-recommended way to build Caddy involves
 	// building it as a dependency so we can extract version
 	// information from go.mod tooling; once the upstream