diff --git a/.changeset/unlucky-eagles-destroy.md b/.changeset/unlucky-eagles-destroy.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..74c96a7fe2d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/unlucky-eagles-destroy.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@sveltejs/kit': patch
+---
+
+feat: export `VERSION` from `@sveltejs/kit`
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index c6e40316e959..4f8c925e23e3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           # This expects you to have a script called release which does a build for your packages and calls changeset publish
           publish: pnpm release
+          version: pnpm changeset:version
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
           NPM_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index e3c25ea371cb..b229ef5b6411 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 		"lint": "pnpm -r lint && eslint --cache --cache-location node_modules/.eslintcache 'packages/**/*.js'",
 		"format": "pnpm -r format",
 		"precommit": "pnpm format && pnpm lint",
+		"changeset:version": "pnpm -r generate:version && git add --all",
 		"release": "changeset publish",
 		"start": "cd sites/kit.svelte.dev && npm run dev"
 	},
diff --git a/packages/kit/package.json b/packages/kit/package.json
index 0dd25bbe40c7..5300b94cbc12 100644
--- a/packages/kit/package.json
+++ b/packages/kit/package.json
@@ -68,7 +68,8 @@
 		"test:cross-platform:build": "pnpm test:unit && pnpm -r --workspace-concurrency 1 --filter=\"./test/**\" test:cross-platform:build",
 		"test:unit": "vitest --config kit.vitest.config.js run",
 		"postinstall": "node postinstall.js",
-		"prepublishOnly": "node scripts/generate-dts.js"
+		"prepublishOnly": "node scripts/generate-dts.js",
+		"generate:version": "node scripts/generate-version.js"
 	},
 	"exports": {
 		"./package.json": "./package.json",
diff --git a/packages/kit/scripts/generate-version.js b/packages/kit/scripts/generate-version.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..ecf715c9a15c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/kit/scripts/generate-version.js
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+import fs from 'node:fs';
+
+const pkg = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('package.json', 'utf-8'));
+
+fs.writeFileSync(
+	'./src/version.js',
+	`// generated during release, do not modify\n\n/** @type {string} */\nexport const VERSION = '${pkg.version}';\n`
+);
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/exports/index.js b/packages/kit/src/exports/index.js
index b1d50790c444..63bc183feb33 100644
--- a/packages/kit/src/exports/index.js
+++ b/packages/kit/src/exports/index.js
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ import { HttpError, Redirect, ActionFailure } from '../runtime/control.js';
 import { BROWSER, DEV } from 'esm-env';
 import { get_route_segments } from '../utils/routing.js';
 
+export { VERSION } from '../version.js';
+
 /**
  * @overload
  * @param {number} status
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/version.js b/packages/kit/src/version.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..2b0e210e9821
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/kit/src/version.js
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+// generated during release, do not modify
+
+/** @type {string} */
+export const VERSION = '1.20.4';
diff --git a/packages/kit/src/version.spec.js b/packages/kit/src/version.spec.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..fa44692da9ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/kit/src/version.spec.js
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import { fileURLToPath } from 'node:url';
+import { readFileSync } from 'node:fs';
+import { assert, describe, it } from 'vitest';
+
+// runs the version generation as a side-effect of importing
+import '../scripts/generate-version.js';
+
+describe('@sveltejs/kit VERSION', async () => {
+	it('should be the exact version from package.json');
+	const { VERSION } = await import('./version.js');
+	const pkg = JSON.parse(
+		readFileSync(fileURLToPath(new URL('../package.json', import.meta.url)), 'utf-8')
+	);
+	assert.equal(
+		VERSION,
+		pkg.version,
+		'VERSION export in src/version.js does not equal version in package.json'
+	);
+});