diff --git a/OpenRA.Game/Game.cs b/OpenRA.Game/Game.cs
index 4f63e84d36..6fa5601a80 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Game/Game.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Game/Game.cs
@@ -57,6 +57,8 @@ namespace OpenRA
 
 		public static GlobalChat GlobalChat;
 
+		public static string EngineVersion { get; private set; }
+
 		static Task discoverNat;
 
 		public static OrderManager JoinServer(string host, int port, string password, bool recordReplay = true)
@@ -246,6 +248,18 @@ namespace OpenRA
 		{
 			Console.WriteLine("Platform is {0}", Platform.CurrentPlatform);
 
+			// Load the engine version as early as possible so it can be written to exception logs
+			try
+			{
+				EngineVersion = File.ReadAllText(Platform.ResolvePath(Path.Combine(".", "VERSION"))).Trim();
+			}
+			catch { }
+
+			if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(EngineVersion))
+				EngineVersion = "Unknown";
+
+			Console.WriteLine("Engine version is {0}", EngineVersion);
+
 			// Special case handling of Game.Mod argument: if it matches a real filesystem path
 			// then we use this to override the mod search path, and replace it with the mod id
 			var modID = args.GetValue("Game.Mod", null);
diff --git a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/Widgets/Logic/MainMenuLogic.cs b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/Widgets/Logic/MainMenuLogic.cs
index b54119ff00..ff0bb07f51 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/Widgets/Logic/MainMenuLogic.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/Widgets/Logic/MainMenuLogic.cs
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ namespace OpenRA.Mods.Common.Widgets.Logic
 					{
 						// Send the mod and engine version to support version-filtered news (update prompts)
 						newsURL += "?version={0}&mod={1}&modversion={2}".F(
-							Uri.EscapeUriString(Game.Mods["modcontent"].Metadata.Version),
+							Uri.EscapeUriString(Game.EngineVersion),
 							Uri.EscapeUriString(Game.ModData.Manifest.Id),
 							Uri.EscapeUriString(Game.ModData.Manifest.Metadata.Version));
 
diff --git a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/Widgets/Logic/MultiplayerLogic.cs b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/Widgets/Logic/MultiplayerLogic.cs
index 5fc15fd70e..680ae5fb94 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/Widgets/Logic/MultiplayerLogic.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/Widgets/Logic/MultiplayerLogic.cs
@@ -362,7 +362,7 @@ namespace OpenRA.Mods.Common.Widgets.Logic
 			};
 
 			var queryURL = services.ServerList + "games?version={0}&mod={1}&modversion={2}".F(
-				Uri.EscapeUriString(Game.Mods["modcontent"].Metadata.Version),
+				Uri.EscapeUriString(Game.EngineVersion),
 				Uri.EscapeUriString(Game.ModData.Manifest.Id),
 				Uri.EscapeUriString(Game.ModData.Manifest.Metadata.Version));