diff --git a/command/version.go b/command/version.go
index 321340b21..49f4f5f01 100644
--- a/command/version.go
+++ b/command/version.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"sort"
+	"strings"
 )
 
 // VersionCommand is a Command implementation prints the version.
@@ -38,7 +39,16 @@ type VersionCheckInfo struct {
 }
 
 func (c *VersionCommand) Help() string {
-	return ""
+	helpText := `
+Usage: terraform version [options]
+
+  Displays the version of Terraform and all installed plugins
+
+Options:
+
+  -json       Output the version information as a JSON object.
+`
+	return strings.TrimSpace(helpText)
 }
 
 func (c *VersionCommand) Run(args []string) int {
@@ -48,6 +58,13 @@ func (c *VersionCommand) Run(args []string) int {
 	var jsonOutput bool
 	cmdFlags := c.Meta.defaultFlagSet("version")
 	cmdFlags.BoolVar(&jsonOutput, "json", false, "json")
+	// Enable but ignore the global version flags. In main.go, if any of the
+	// arguments are -v, -version, or --version, this command will be called
+	// with the rest of the arguments, so we need to be able to cope with
+	// those.
+	cmdFlags.Bool("v", true, "version")
+	cmdFlags.Bool("version", true, "version")
+	cmdFlags.Usage = func() { c.Ui.Error(c.Help()) }
 	if err := cmdFlags.Parse(args); err != nil {
 		c.Ui.Error(fmt.Sprintf("Error parsing command-line flags: %s\n", err.Error()))
 		return 1
diff --git a/command/version_test.go b/command/version_test.go
index 05a9a83ad..36bb1692c 100644
--- a/command/version_test.go
+++ b/command/version_test.go
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ func TestVersion(t *testing.T) {
 		ProviderSource:   providerSource,
 	}
 
-	// `terrafrom init`
+	// `terraform init`
 	ic := &InitCommand{
 		Meta: m,
 	}
@@ -61,6 +61,30 @@ func TestVersion(t *testing.T) {
 
 }
 
+func TestVersion_flags(t *testing.T) {
+	ui := new(cli.MockUi)
+	m := Meta{
+		Ui: ui,
+	}
+
+	// `terraform version`
+	c := &VersionCommand{
+		Meta:              m,
+		Version:           "4.5.6",
+		VersionPrerelease: "foo",
+	}
+
+	if code := c.Run([]string{"-v", "-version"}); code != 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("bad: \n%s", ui.ErrorWriter.String())
+	}
+
+	actual := strings.TrimSpace(ui.OutputWriter.String())
+	expected := "Terraform v4.5.6-foo"
+	if actual != expected {
+		t.Fatalf("wrong output\ngot: %#v\nwant: %#v", actual, expected)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestVersion_json(t *testing.T) {
 	fixtureDir := "testdata/providers-schema/basic"
 	td := tempDir(t)
@@ -81,7 +105,7 @@ func TestVersion_json(t *testing.T) {
 		ProviderSource:   providerSource,
 	}
 
-	// `terrafrom init`
+	// `terraform init`
 	ic := &InitCommand{
 		Meta: m,
 	}