diff --git a/Manual.md b/Manual.md
index d4aeb38e942..1327502d033 100644
--- a/Manual.md
+++ b/Manual.md
@@ -478,6 +478,9 @@ matches a version number enclosed in `<b>...</b>` tags.
 version numbers which are not taken into account for checking newer
 versions.  Example: `update_ignore="*b*"`
 
+- `update_version` is the version number used to compare against
+upstream versions. Example: `update_version=${version//./_}`
+
 You can run such a check using `./xbps-src update-check <pkgname>`.
 
 ### build style scripts
diff --git a/common/environment/setup/sourcepkg.sh b/common/environment/setup/sourcepkg.sh
index 6e8b5731853..0c9af9dea45 100644
--- a/common/environment/setup/sourcepkg.sh
+++ b/common/environment/setup/sourcepkg.sh
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ unset -v make_cmd make_build_args make_install_args make_build_target make_insta
 unset -v patch_args disable_parallel_build keep_libtool_archives
 unset -v reverts subpackages makedepends hostmakedepends depends
 unset -v build_options build_options_default bootstrap repository
-unset -v update_pkgname update_site update_pattern update_ignore
+unset -v update_pkgname update_site update_pattern update_ignore update_version
 unset -v CFLAGS CXXFLAGS CPPFLAGS LDFLAGS LD_LIBRARY_PATH
 unset -v CC CXX CPP GCC LD AR AS RANLIB NM OBJDUMP OBJCOPY STRIP READELF
 
diff --git a/common/xbps-src/shutils/update_check.sh b/common/xbps-src/shutils/update_check.sh
index c3cc086aca6..5834ea7c2a0 100644
--- a/common/xbps-src/shutils/update_check.sh
+++ b/common/xbps-src/shutils/update_check.sh
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ update_check() {
             esac
         done
         if $consider; then
-            xbps-uhelper cmpver "$pkgname-${version}_1" \
+            xbps-uhelper cmpver "$pkgname-${update_version:-$version}_1" \
                 "$pkgname-$(printf %s "$found_version" | tr - .)_1"
             if [ $? = 255 ]; then
                 echo "${pkgname}-${version} -> ${pkgname}-${found_version}"