diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f7aa94f65993..4e204a5b202c 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ CRM/Case/xml/configuration
 CRM/Core/DAO/.listAll.php
 CRM/Core/DAO/listAll.php
 bin/setup.conf
-civicrm-version.php
 civicrm-version.txt
 civicrm.config.php
 node_modules
diff --git a/CRM/Core/CodeGen/Main.php b/CRM/Core/CodeGen/Main.php
index f85deb401bbe..9edd7b781817 100644
--- a/CRM/Core/CodeGen/Main.php
+++ b/CRM/Core/CodeGen/Main.php
@@ -110,7 +110,6 @@ public function getTasks() {
 
     $tasks = array();
     $tasks[] = new CRM_Core_CodeGen_Config($this);
-    $tasks[] = new CRM_Core_CodeGen_Version($this);
     $tasks[] = new CRM_Core_CodeGen_Reflection($this);
     $tasks[] = new CRM_Core_CodeGen_Schema($this);
     foreach (array_keys($this->tables) as $name) {
diff --git a/CRM/Core/CodeGen/Version.php b/CRM/Core/CodeGen/Version.php
deleted file mode 100644
index e98e38e88814..000000000000
--- a/CRM/Core/CodeGen/Version.php
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
-<?php
-
-/**
- * Generate configuration files
- */
-class CRM_Core_CodeGen_Version extends CRM_Core_CodeGen_BaseTask {
-  public function run() {
-    echo "Generating civicrm-version file\n";
-
-    $template = new CRM_Core_CodeGen_Util_Template('php');
-    $template->assign('db_version', $this->config->db_version);
-    $template->assign('cms', ucwords($this->config->cms));
-    $template->run('civicrm_version.tpl', $this->config->phpCodePath . "civicrm-version.php");
-  }
-
-}
diff --git a/civicrm-version.php b/civicrm-version.php
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..f99d34cad70b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/civicrm-version.php
@@ -0,0 +1,128 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace _CiviVersion_ {
+
+  class Util {
+
+    /**
+     * Get the CiviCRM version
+     */
+    public static function findVersion() {
+      $verFile = implode(DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR, [dirname(__FILE__), 'xml', 'version.xml']);
+      if (file_exists($verFile)) {
+        $str = file_get_contents($verFile);
+        $xmlObj = simplexml_load_string($str);
+        return (string) $xmlObj->version_no;
+      }
+
+      trigger_error("Unknown version", E_USER_ERROR);
+      exit();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the CMS name
+     */
+    public static function findCMS() {
+      if (defined('CIVICRM_UF')) {
+        return CIVICRM_UF;
+      }
+      elseif (defined('BACKDROP_VERSION')) {
+        return 'Backdrop';
+      }
+      elseif (function_exists('drupal_bootstrap') && version_compare(VERSION, '6.0', '>=') && version_compare(VERSION, '7.0', '<')) {
+        return 'Drupal6';
+      }
+      elseif (function_exists('drupal_bootstrap') && version_compare(VERSION, '7.0', '>=') && version_compare(VERSION, '8.0', '<')) {
+        return 'Drupal';
+      }
+      elseif (defined('ABSPATH') && function_exists('get_bloginfo')) {
+        return 'WordPress';
+      }
+      elseif (defined('DRUPAL_ROOT') && class_exists('Drupal') && version_compare(\Drupal::VERSION, '8.0', '>=') && version_compare(\Drupal::VERSION, '9.0', '<')) {
+        return 'Drupal8';
+      }
+      else {
+        // guess CMS name from the current path
+        list($cmsType,) = self::findCMSRootPath();
+
+        if (!empty($cmsType)) {
+          return $cmsType;
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the CMS root path and CMS name
+     */
+    public static function findCMSRootPath() {
+      $cmsPatterns = array(
+        'Wordpress' => array(
+          'wp-includes/version.php',
+          // Future? 'vendor/civicrm/wordpress/civicrm.php' => 'wp',
+        ),
+        'Joomla' => array(
+          'administrator/components/com_civicrm/civicrm/civicrm-version.php',
+        ),
+        'Drupal' => array(
+          'modules/system/system.module', // D7
+        ),
+        'Drupal8' => array(
+          'core/core.services.yml', // D8
+        ),
+        'Backdrop' => array(
+          'core/modules/layout/layout.module',
+        ),
+      );
+
+      $parts = explode('/', str_replace('\\', '/', self::getSearchDir()));
+      while (!empty($parts)) {
+        $basePath = implode('/', $parts);
+
+        foreach ($cmsPatterns as $cmsType => $relPaths) {
+          foreach ($relPaths as $relPath) {
+            $matches = glob("$basePath/$relPath");
+            if (!empty($matches)) {
+              return [$cmsType, $basePath];
+            }
+          }
+        }
+
+        array_pop($parts);
+      }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the current path
+     */
+    public static function getSearchDir() {
+      if ($_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME']) {
+        return dirname($_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME']);
+      }
+      // getenv('PWD') works better with symlinked source trees, but it's
+      // not portable to Windows.
+      if (strtoupper(substr(PHP_OS, 0, 3)) === 'WIN') {
+        return getcwd();
+      }
+      else {
+        return getenv('PWD');
+      }
+    }
+
+  }
+}
+
+namespace {
+  /**
+   * Get the CiviCRM version.
+   * TODO : For now this function is not included in \Civi\Version class so not to break any code
+   *   which directly call civicrmVersion(). So those call need to replaced with \Civi\Version::civicrmVersion()
+   *   when included in the class
+   * @deprecated
+   */
+  function civicrmVersion() {
+    return [
+      'version' => \_CiviVersion_\Util::findVersion(),
+      'cms' => \_CiviVersion_\Util::findCMS(),
+    ];
+  }
+}
diff --git a/distmaker/dists/common.sh b/distmaker/dists/common.sh
index 64fbf0426082..e760bf593054 100644
--- a/distmaker/dists/common.sh
+++ b/distmaker/dists/common.sh
@@ -220,6 +220,7 @@ function dm_generate_version() {
 
   # final touch
   echo "<?php
+/** @deprecated */
 function civicrmVersion( ) {
   return array( 'version'  => '$DM_VERSION',
                 'cms'      => '$ufname',