diff --git a/innobackupex b/innobackupex
index 517202a..5ca318d 100755
--- a/innobackupex
+++ b/innobackupex
@@ -192,6 +192,9 @@ my $galera_info;
 # name of the file where slave info is written
 my $slave_info;
 
+# name of the file where backup info is written
+my $backup_info;
+
 # mysql binlog position as given by "SHOW MASTER STATUS" command
 my $mysql_binlog_position = '';
 
@@ -457,6 +460,8 @@ sub backup {
       mysql_query(\%mysql, 'START SLAVE SQL_THREAD;');
     }
 
+    write_backup_info();
+
     # copy ib_lru_dump
     # Copy buffer poll dump and/or LRU dump
     foreach my $dump_name ($buffer_pool_filename, 'ib_lru_dump') {
@@ -805,6 +810,7 @@ sub copy_back {
     my $excluded_files = 
         '\.\.?|backup-my\.cnf|xtrabackup_logfile|' .
         'xtrabackup_binary|xtrabackup_binlog_info|xtrabackup_checkpoints|' .
+        'xtrabackup_backup_info|' .
         '.*\.qp|' .
         '.*\.pmap|.*\.tmp|' .
         $iblog_files . '|'.
@@ -1602,6 +1608,40 @@ sub write_slave_info {
     $mysql_slave_position = "master host '$master', filename '$filename', position $position";
 }
 
+# 
+# write_backup_info subroutine writes out a file containting the running MySQL
+# version, installed xtrabackup version and current innobackup version.
+#
+sub write_backup_info {
+    my @lines;
+    my @info_lines;
+    my $cmdline;
+    my $xtrabackup_version = '';
+
+    # grab version from xtrabackup
+    $cmdline = "$option_ibbackup_binary -v 2>&1";
+    @lines = `$cmdline`;
+
+    # and parse it
+    for (@lines) {
+        $xtrabackup_version = $1 if / version (\S*) /;
+    }
+
+    # print collected version info to a file
+    open(FILE, ">$backup_info") || 
+        Die "Failed to open file '$backup_info': $!";
+
+    print FILE "mysql_server_version = $mysql_server_version\n";
+    print FILE "xtrabackup_version = $xtrabackup_version\n";
+    print FILE "innobackup_version = $innobackup_version\n";
+    close(FILE);
+
+    if ($option_stream) {
+        stream_encrypt_file($option_tmpdir, 'xtrabackup_backup_info')
+                            and Die "Failed to stream 'xtrabackup_backup_info': $!";
+        unlink $backup_info || Die "Failed to delete '$backup_info': $!";
+    }
+}
 
 #
 # mysql_lockall subroutine puts a read lock on all tables in all databases.
@@ -1833,6 +1873,7 @@ sub init {
         $binlog_info = $work_dir . '/xtrabackup_binlog_info';
         $galera_info = $work_dir . '/xtrabackup_galera_info';
         $slave_info = $work_dir . '/xtrabackup_slave_info';
+        $backup_info = $work_dir . '/xtrabackup_backup_info';
         write_backup_config_file($backup_config_file);
 
         foreach (@xb_suspend_files) {
diff --git a/test/t/ib_backup_info_basic.sh b/test/t/ib_backup_info_basic.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..416757b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/t/ib_backup_info_basic.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+########################################################################
+# Test that xtrabackup_backup_info is included in a copied backup
+########################################################################
+
+. inc/common.sh
+
+start_server
+
+# take a backup with stream mode
+innobackupex --no-timestamp $topdir/backup
+
+mysql_server_version=`${MYSQL} ${MYSQL_ARGS} -Ns -e "select version()"`
+xtrabackup_version=`xtrabackup -v 2>&1 | cut -d" " -f3`
+
+if [ -f $topdir/backup/xtrabackup_backup_info ] ; then
+    vlog "xtrabackup_backup_info was backed up"
+else
+    vlog "xtrabackup_backup_info was not backed up"
+    exit -1
+fi
+
+if grep "$mysql_server_version" $topdir/backup/xtrabackup_backup_info; then
+    vlog "found $mysql_server_version in xtrabackup_backup_info"
+else
+    vlog "couldn't find $mysql_server_version in xtrabackup_backup_info"
+    exit -1
+fi  
+
+if grep "$xtrabackup_version" $topdir/backup/xtrabackup_backup_info; then
+    vlog "found $xtrabackup_version in xtrabackup_backup_info"
+else
+    vlog "couldn't find $xtrabackup_version in xtrabackup_backup_info"
+    exit -1
+fi
diff --git a/test/t/ib_backup_info_rsync.sh b/test/t/ib_backup_info_rsync.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..30d518c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/t/ib_backup_info_rsync.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+########################################################################
+# Test that xtrabackup_backup_info is included in a rsynced backup
+########################################################################
+
+. inc/common.sh
+
+start_server
+
+# take a backup with stream mode
+innobackupex --rsync --no-timestamp $topdir/backup
+
+if [ -f $topdir/backup/xtrabackup_backup_info ] ; then
+    vlog "xtrabackup_backup_info was backed up"
+else
+    vlog "xtrabackup_backup_info was not backed up"
+    exit -1
+fi
diff --git a/test/t/ib_backup_info_stream.sh b/test/t/ib_backup_info_stream.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0a3ab55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/t/ib_backup_info_stream.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+########################################################################
+# Test that xtrabackup_backup_info is included in a stream backup 
+########################################################################
+
+. inc/common.sh
+
+start_server
+
+# take a backup with stream mode
+mkdir -p $topdir/backup
+innobackupex --stream=tar $topdir/backup > $topdir/backup/stream.tar
+
+if $TAR itf $topdir/backup/stream.tar | grep ^xtrabackup_backup_info; then
+    vlog "xtrabackup_backup_info was backed up"
+else
+    vlog "xtrabackup_backup_info was not backed up"
+    exit -1
+fi