diff --git a/plugins/cros-ec/fu-cros-ec-common.c b/plugins/cros-ec/fu-cros-ec-common.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..07111b40a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/cros-ec/fu-cros-ec-common.c
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2020 Benson Leung <bleung@chromium.org>
+ *
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1+
+ */
+
+#include "config.h"
+
+#include <string.h>
+
+#include "fu-cros-ec-common.h"
+
+gboolean
+fu_cros_ec_parse_version (const gchar *version_raw,
+			  struct cros_ec_version *version, GError **error)
+{
+	g_auto(GStrv) v_split = NULL;
+	g_auto(GStrv) marker_split = NULL;
+	g_auto(GStrv) triplet_split = NULL;
+
+	if (NULL == version_raw || 0 == strlen (version_raw)) {
+		g_set_error_literal (error,
+				     FWUPD_ERROR,
+				     FWUPD_ERROR_INTERNAL,
+				     "no version string to parse");
+		return FALSE;
+	}
+
+	/* sample version string: cheese_v1.1.1755-4da9520 */
+	v_split = g_strsplit (version_raw, "_v", 2);
+	if (g_strv_length (v_split) < 2) {
+		g_set_error_literal (error,
+				     FWUPD_ERROR,
+				     FWUPD_ERROR_INTERNAL,
+				     "version marker not found");
+		return FALSE;
+	}
+	marker_split = g_strsplit_set (v_split[1], "-+", 2);
+	if (g_strv_length (marker_split) < 2) {
+		g_set_error (error,
+			     FWUPD_ERROR,
+			     FWUPD_ERROR_INTERNAL,
+			     "hash marker not found: %s", v_split[1]);
+		return FALSE;
+	}
+	triplet_split = g_strsplit_set (marker_split[0], ".", 3);
+	if (g_strv_length (triplet_split) < 3) {
+		g_set_error (error,
+			     FWUPD_ERROR,
+			     FWUPD_ERROR_INTERNAL,
+			     "improper version triplet: %s", marker_split[0]);
+		return FALSE;
+	}
+	g_strlcpy (version->triplet, marker_split[0], 32);
+	if (g_strlcpy (version->boardname, v_split[0], 32) == 0) {
+		g_set_error_literal (error,
+				     FWUPD_ERROR,
+				     FWUPD_ERROR_INTERNAL,
+				     "empty board name");
+		return FALSE;
+	}
+	if (g_strlcpy (version->sha1, marker_split[1], 32) == 0) {
+		g_set_error_literal (error,
+				     FWUPD_ERROR,
+				     FWUPD_ERROR_INTERNAL,
+				     "empty SHA");
+		return FALSE;
+	}
+	version->dirty = (g_strrstr(v_split[1], "+") != NULL);
+
+	return TRUE;
+}
diff --git a/plugins/cros-ec/fu-cros-ec-common.h b/plugins/cros-ec/fu-cros-ec-common.h
index b5fd8a8e7..e7e07c9c2 100644
--- a/plugins/cros-ec/fu-cros-ec-common.h
+++ b/plugins/cros-ec/fu-cros-ec-common.h
@@ -4,6 +4,12 @@
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1+
  */
 
+#pragma once
+
+#include <glib.h>
+
+#include "fu-plugin.h"
+
 #define UPDATE_PROTOCOL_VERSION 6
 
 /*
@@ -123,3 +129,14 @@ enum first_response_pdu_header_type {
 	UPDATE_HEADER_TYPE_CR50 = 0, /* Must be 0 for backwards compatibility */
 	UPDATE_HEADER_TYPE_COMMON = 1,
 };
+
+struct cros_ec_version {
+	gchar	 boardname[32];
+	gchar	 triplet[32];
+	gchar	 sha1[32];
+	gboolean dirty;
+};
+
+gboolean	fu_cros_ec_parse_version	(const gchar 		*version_raw,
+						 struct cros_ec_version *version,
+						 GError **error);
diff --git a/plugins/cros-ec/fu-cros-ec-usb-device.c b/plugins/cros-ec/fu-cros-ec-usb-device.c
index eaf49b385..104e7a84d 100644
--- a/plugins/cros-ec/fu-cros-ec-usb-device.c
+++ b/plugins/cros-ec/fu-cros-ec-usb-device.c
@@ -20,14 +20,15 @@
 #define BULK_RECV_TIMEOUT_MS		5000
 
 struct _FuCrosEcUsbDevice {
-	FuUsbDevice		parent_instance;
-	guint8			iface_idx; 	/* bInterfaceNumber */
-	guint8			ep_num;		/* bEndpointAddress */
-	guint16			chunk_len; 	/* wMaxPacketSize */
+	FuUsbDevice			parent_instance;
+	guint8				iface_idx; 	/* bInterfaceNumber */
+	guint8				ep_num;		/* bEndpointAddress */
+	guint16				chunk_len; 	/* wMaxPacketSize */
 
-	struct			first_response_pdu targ;
-	guint16			protocol_version;
-	guint16			header_type;
+	struct first_response_pdu	targ;
+	guint16				protocol_version;
+	guint16				header_type;
+	struct cros_ec_version		version;
 };
 
 G_DEFINE_TYPE (FuCrosEcUsbDevice, fu_cros_ec_usb_device, FU_TYPE_USB_DEVICE)
@@ -279,7 +280,15 @@ fu_cros_ec_usb_device_setup (FuDevice *device, GError **error)
 	self->targ.common.min_rollback = GINT32_FROM_BE (start_resp.rpdu.common.min_rollback);
 	self->targ.common.key_version = GUINT32_FROM_BE (start_resp.rpdu.common.key_version);
 
-	fu_device_set_version (FU_DEVICE (device), self->targ.common.version);
+	if (!fu_cros_ec_parse_version (self->targ.common.version,
+				       &self->version, error)) {
+		g_prefix_error (error,
+				"failed parsing device's version: %32s: ",
+				self->targ.common.version);
+		return FALSE;
+	}
+
+	fu_device_set_version (FU_DEVICE (device), self->version.triplet);
 
 	/* success */
 	return TRUE;
@@ -305,7 +314,7 @@ fu_cros_ec_usb_device_close (FuUsbDevice *device, GError **error)
 static void
 fu_cros_ec_usb_device_init (FuCrosEcUsbDevice *device)
 {
-	fu_device_set_version_format (FU_DEVICE (device), FWUPD_VERSION_FORMAT_PLAIN);
+	fu_device_set_version_format (FU_DEVICE (device), FWUPD_VERSION_FORMAT_TRIPLET);
 }
 
 static void
diff --git a/plugins/cros-ec/meson.build b/plugins/cros-ec/meson.build
index 9764abeda..ff41c03d9 100644
--- a/plugins/cros-ec/meson.build
+++ b/plugins/cros-ec/meson.build
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ shared_module('fu_plugin_cros_ec',
   sources : [
     'fu-plugin-cros-ec.c',
     'fu-cros-ec-usb-device.c',
+    'fu-cros-ec-common.c',
   ],
   include_directories : [
     root_incdir,
@@ -18,6 +19,7 @@ shared_module('fu_plugin_cros_ec',
   install : true,
   install_dir: plugin_dir,
   link_with : [
+    fwupd,
     fwupdplugin,
   ],
   c_args : cargs,