diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index 6bb1ce9961..d303bbdb2d 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@ fi
 
 # OS version
 if [ -n "$THINGOS_VERSION" ]; then
+    # set internal OS version from env variable
+    if [ -f $outputdir/target/etc/version ]; then
+        sed -r -i "s/os_version=\".*\"/os_version=\"$THINGOS_VERSION\"/" $outputdir/target/etc/version
+    fi
     osversion=$THINGOS_VERSION
 else
     osversion=$(source $basedir/board/common/overlay/etc/version && echo $os_version)