diff --git a/asciidoctorj-cli/build.gradle b/asciidoctorj-cli/build.gradle
index 2b6cc96d4..ace3fc1fa 100644
--- a/asciidoctorj-cli/build.gradle
+++ b/asciidoctorj-cli/build.gradle
@@ -28,5 +28,4 @@ jar {
       'Automatic-Module-Name': 'org.asciidoctor.asciidoctorj.cli'
     )
   }
-  metaInf { from "$buildDir/version-info/" }
 }
diff --git a/asciidoctorj-cli/src/main/java/org/asciidoctor/cli/jruby/AsciidoctorInvoker.java b/asciidoctorj-cli/src/main/java/org/asciidoctor/cli/jruby/AsciidoctorInvoker.java
index ec29d4f29..59254c83e 100644
--- a/asciidoctorj-cli/src/main/java/org/asciidoctor/cli/jruby/AsciidoctorInvoker.java
+++ b/asciidoctorj-cli/src/main/java/org/asciidoctor/cli/jruby/AsciidoctorInvoker.java
@@ -90,9 +90,6 @@ public int invoke(String... parameters) throws IOException {
 
     private String getAsciidoctorJVersion() {
         InputStream in = getClass().getResourceAsStream("/META-INF/asciidoctorj-version.properties");
-        if (in == null) {
-            return "N/A";
-        }
         Properties versionProps = new Properties();
         try {
             versionProps.load(in);
diff --git a/asciidoctorj-cli/src/test/java/org/asciidoctor/cli/WhenAsciidoctorIsCalledUsingCli.java b/asciidoctorj-cli/src/test/java/org/asciidoctor/cli/WhenAsciidoctorIsCalledUsingCli.java
index 64415a30e..da93d9929 100644
--- a/asciidoctorj-cli/src/test/java/org/asciidoctor/cli/WhenAsciidoctorIsCalledUsingCli.java
+++ b/asciidoctorj-cli/src/test/java/org/asciidoctor/cli/WhenAsciidoctorIsCalledUsingCli.java
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.PrintStream;
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.catchThrowable;
 import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.is;
@@ -274,6 +275,23 @@ void should_convert_to_subdirectories(@ClasspathResource("relative/sub/test.adoc
         expectedFile.delete();
     }
 
+    @Test
+    void should_print_version() throws IOException {
+        PrintStream previousSystemOut = System.out;
+        try (ByteArrayOutputStream out = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
+            PrintStream sysout = new PrintStream(out)){
+            System.setOut(sysout);
+            new AsciidoctorInvoker().invoke("--version");
+            String result = out.toString(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+            Assertions.assertThat(result)
+                    // Needs to be updated when version changes
+                    .contains("2.0.20");
+        } finally {
+            System.setOut(previousSystemOut);
+        }
+    }
+
+
     private ByteArrayOutputStream redirectStdout() {
         ByteArrayOutputStream output = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
         System.setOut(new PrintStream(output));
diff --git a/asciidoctorj-core/build.gradle b/asciidoctorj-core/build.gradle
index 0c5697de7..ed1403e80 100644
--- a/asciidoctorj-core/build.gradle
+++ b/asciidoctorj-core/build.gradle
@@ -86,6 +86,20 @@ javadoc {
   source(project(':asciidoctorj-api').sourceSets.main.allJava)
 }
 
+task createVersionFile {
+  inputs.property('version.asciidoctor', asciidoctorGemVersion)
+  inputs.property('version.asciidoctorj', project.version)
+  outputs.dir("${buildDir}/version-info")
+
+  doLast {
+    file("${buildDir}/version-info/asciidoctorj-version.properties", ).text = """
+version.asciidoctorj: ${project.version}
+version.asciidoctor: $asciidoctorGemVersion
+"""
+  }
+}
+
+
 jar {
   bnd(
     ('Bundle-Name'): 'asciidoctorj',
@@ -96,24 +110,12 @@ jar {
       'Automatic-Module-Name': 'org.asciidoctor.asciidoctorj'
     )
   }
-  metaInf { from "$buildDir/version-info/" }
+  metaInf {
+    from createVersionFile
+  }
 }
 
 test {
   useJUnitPlatform()
 }
 
-task createVersionFile {
-  inputs.property('version.asciidoctor', asciidoctorGemVersion)
-  inputs.property('version.asciidoctorj', project.version)
-  outputs.dir("$buildDir/version-info")
-
-  doLast {
-    file("$buildDir/version-info/asciidoctorj-version.properties").text = """
-version.asciidoctorj: ${project.version}
-version.asciidoctor: $asciidoctorGemVersion
-"""
-  }
-}
-
-jar.dependsOn createVersionFile