diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/python/PythonRDD.scala b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/python/PythonRDD.scala
index 556a8a776b29d..2d92f6a42b308 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/python/PythonRDD.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/api/python/PythonRDD.scala
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ private[spark] class PythonRDD(
     pythonIncludes: JList[String],
     preservePartitoning: Boolean,
     pythonExec: String,
-    pythonVer: Int,
+    pythonVer: String,
     broadcastVars: JList[Broadcast[PythonBroadcast]],
     accumulator: Accumulator[JList[Array[Byte]]])
   extends RDD[Array[Byte]](parent) {
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ private[spark] class PythonRDD(
         // Partition index
         dataOut.writeInt(split.index)
         // Python version of driver
-        dataOut.writeInt(pythonVer)
+        PythonRDD.writeUTF(pythonVer, dataOut)
         // sparkFilesDir
         PythonRDD.writeUTF(SparkFiles.getRootDirectory, dataOut)
         // Python includes (*.zip and *.egg files)
diff --git a/python/pyspark/context.py b/python/pyspark/context.py
index c35ce2ca64d1f..d25ee855235be 100644
--- a/python/pyspark/context.py
+++ b/python/pyspark/context.py
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ def _do_init(self, master, appName, sparkHome, pyFiles, environment, batchSize,
             self._jvm.PythonAccumulatorParam(host, port))
 
         self.pythonExec = os.environ.get("PYSPARK_PYTHON", 'python')
-        self.pythonVer = sys.version_info.major * 10 + sys.version_info.minor
+        self.pythonVer = "%d.%d" % sys.version_info[:2]
 
         # Broadcast's __reduce__ method stores Broadcast instances here.
         # This allows other code to determine which Broadcast instances have
diff --git a/python/pyspark/worker.py b/python/pyspark/worker.py
index aeb5abb753aae..93df9002be377 100644
--- a/python/pyspark/worker.py
+++ b/python/pyspark/worker.py
@@ -57,12 +57,11 @@ def main(infile, outfile):
         if split_index == -1:  # for unit tests
             exit(-1)
 
-        version = read_int(infile)
-        version = (version // 10, version % 10)
-        if version != sys.version_info[:2]:
+        version = utf8_deserializer.loads(infile)
+        if version != "%d.%d" % sys.version_info[:2]:
             raise Exception(("Python in worker has different version %s than that in " +
                              "driver %s, PySpark cannot run with different minor versions") %
-                            (sys.version_info[:2], version))
+                            ("%d.%d" % sys.version_info[:2], version))
 
         # initialize global state
         shuffle.MemoryBytesSpilled = 0
diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/UDFRegistration.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/UDFRegistration.scala
index ef6928a649723..3cc5c2441d8a5 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/UDFRegistration.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/UDFRegistration.scala
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ class UDFRegistration private[sql] (sqlContext: SQLContext) extends Logging {
       envVars: JMap[String, String],
       pythonIncludes: JList[String],
       pythonExec: String,
-      pythonVer: Int,
+      pythonVer: String,
       broadcastVars: JList[Broadcast[PythonBroadcast]],
       accumulator: Accumulator[JList[Array[Byte]]],
       stringDataType: String): Unit = {
diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/UserDefinedFunction.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/UserDefinedFunction.scala
index 8626ed92596c2..a02e202d2eebc 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/UserDefinedFunction.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/UserDefinedFunction.scala
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ private[sql] case class UserDefinedPythonFunction(
     envVars: JMap[String, String],
     pythonIncludes: JList[String],
     pythonExec: String,
-    pythonVer: Int,
+    pythonVer: String,
     broadcastVars: JList[Broadcast[PythonBroadcast]],
     accumulator: Accumulator[JList[Array[Byte]]],
     dataType: DataType) {
diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/pythonUdfs.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/pythonUdfs.scala
index 6feb8001beb2e..11b2897f76786 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/pythonUdfs.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/pythonUdfs.scala
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ private[spark] case class PythonUDF(
     envVars: JMap[String, String],
     pythonIncludes: JList[String],
     pythonExec: String,
-    pythonVer: Int,
+    pythonVer: String,
     broadcastVars: JList[Broadcast[PythonBroadcast]],
     accumulator: Accumulator[JList[Array[Byte]]],
     dataType: DataType,