diff --git a/src/cli_plugin/install/__tests__/kibana.js b/src/cli_plugin/install/__tests__/kibana.js
index e3c860f82a22b..15d6b25d27410 100644
--- a/src/cli_plugin/install/__tests__/kibana.js
+++ b/src/cli_plugin/install/__tests__/kibana.js
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ describe('kibana cli', function () {
             tempArchiveFile: tempArchiveFilePath,
             plugin: 'test-plugin',
             version: '5.0.0-SNAPSHOT',
-            plugins: [ { name: 'foo', path: join(testWorkingPath, 'foo'), version: '5.0.0-SNAPSHOT' } ]
+            plugins: [ { name: 'foo', path: join(testWorkingPath, 'foo'), kibanaVersion: '5.0.0-SNAPSHOT' } ]
           };
           const errorStub = sinon.stub();
 
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ describe('kibana cli', function () {
           expect(errorStub.called).to.be(false);
         });
 
-        it('should throw an error if plugin does contain a version.', function () {
+        it('should throw an error if plugin is missing a kibana version.', function () {
           const errorStub = sinon.stub();
 
           try {
@@ -69,12 +69,12 @@ describe('kibana cli', function () {
             errorStub(err);
           }
 
-          expect(errorStub.firstCall.args[0]).to.match(/plugin version not found/i);
+          expect(errorStub.firstCall.args[0]).to.match(/plugin package\.json is missing both a version property/i);
         });
 
-        it('should throw an error if plugin version does does not match kibana version', function () {
+        it('should throw an error if plugin kibanaVersion does not match kibana version', function () {
           const errorStub = sinon.stub();
-          settings.plugins[0].version = '1.2.3.4';
+          settings.plugins[0].kibanaVersion = '1.2.3.4';
 
           try {
             assertVersion(settings);
@@ -83,12 +83,12 @@ describe('kibana cli', function () {
             errorStub(err);
           }
 
-          expect(errorStub.firstCall.args[0]).to.match(/incorrect version/i);
+          expect(errorStub.firstCall.args[0]).to.match(/incorrect kibana version/i);
         });
 
-        it('should not throw an error if plugin version matches kibana version', function () {
+        it('should not throw an error if plugin kibanaVersion matches kibana version', function () {
           const errorStub = sinon.stub();
-          settings.plugins[0].version = '1.0.0';
+          settings.plugins[0].kibanaVersion = '1.0.0';
 
           try {
             assertVersion(settings);
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ describe('kibana cli', function () {
 
         it('should ignore version info after the dash in checks on valid version', function () {
           const errorStub = sinon.stub();
-          settings.plugins[0].version = '1.0.0-foo-bar-version-1.2.3';
+          settings.plugins[0].kibanaVersion = '1.0.0-foo-bar-version-1.2.3';
 
           try {
             assertVersion(settings);
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ describe('kibana cli', function () {
 
         it('should ignore version info after the dash in checks on invalid version', function () {
           const errorStub = sinon.stub();
-          settings.plugins[0].version = '2.0.0-foo-bar-version-1.2.3';
+          settings.plugins[0].kibanaVersion = '2.0.0-foo-bar-version-1.2.3';
 
           try {
             assertVersion(settings);
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ describe('kibana cli', function () {
             errorStub(err);
           }
 
-          expect(errorStub.firstCall.args[0]).to.match(/incorrect version/i);
+          expect(errorStub.firstCall.args[0]).to.match(/incorrect kibana version/i);
         });
       });
 
diff --git a/src/cli_plugin/install/__tests__/pack.js b/src/cli_plugin/install/__tests__/pack.js
index 433df5bc0a0db..39a61e58a93d6 100644
--- a/src/cli_plugin/install/__tests__/pack.js
+++ b/src/cli_plugin/install/__tests__/pack.js
@@ -12,30 +12,41 @@ describe('kibana cli', function () {
 
   describe('pack', function () {
 
-    const testWorkingPath = join(__dirname, '.test.data');
-    const tempArchiveFilePath = join(testWorkingPath, 'archive.part');
-    const testPluginPath = join(testWorkingPath, '.installedPlugins');
+    let testNum = 0;
+    const workingPathRoot = join(__dirname, '.test.data');
+    let testWorkingPath;
+    let tempArchiveFilePath;
+    let testPluginPath;
     let logger;
-
-    const settings = {
-      workingPath: testWorkingPath,
-      tempArchiveFile: tempArchiveFilePath,
-      pluginDir: testPluginPath,
-      plugin: 'test-plugin'
-    };
+    let settings;
 
     beforeEach(function () {
+      //These tests are dependent on the file system, and I had some inconsistent
+      //behavior with rimraf.sync show up. Until these tests are re-written to not
+      //depend on the file system, I make sure that each test uses a different
+      //working directory.
+      testNum += 1;
+      testWorkingPath = join(workingPathRoot, testNum + '');
+      tempArchiveFilePath = join(testWorkingPath, 'archive.part');
+      testPluginPath = join(testWorkingPath, '.installedPlugins');
+
+      settings = {
+        workingPath: testWorkingPath,
+        tempArchiveFile: tempArchiveFilePath,
+        pluginDir: testPluginPath,
+        plugin: 'test-plugin'
+      };
+
       logger = new Logger(settings);
       sinon.stub(logger, 'log');
       sinon.stub(logger, 'error');
-      rimraf.sync(testWorkingPath);
       mkdirp.sync(testWorkingPath);
     });
 
     afterEach(function () {
       logger.log.restore();
       logger.error.restore();
-      rimraf.sync(testWorkingPath);
+      rimraf.sync(workingPathRoot);
     });
 
     function copyReplyFile(filename) {
@@ -89,10 +100,33 @@ describe('kibana cli', function () {
           expect(settings.plugins[0].name).to.be('test-plugin');
           expect(settings.plugins[0].folder).to.be('test-plugin');
           expect(settings.plugins[0].version).to.be('1.0.0');
+          expect(settings.plugins[0].kibanaVersion).to.be('1.0.0');
           expect(settings.plugins[0].platform).to.be(undefined);
         });
       });
 
+      it('populate settings.plugin.kibanaVersion', function () {
+        //kibana.version is defined in this package.json and is different than plugin version
+        return copyReplyFile('test_plugin_different_version.zip')
+        .then(() => {
+          return getPackData(settings, logger);
+        })
+        .then(() => {
+          expect(settings.plugins[0].kibanaVersion).to.be('5.0.1');
+        });
+      });
+
+      it('populate settings.plugin.kibanaVersion (default to plugin version)', function () {
+        //kibana.version is not defined in this package.json, defaults to plugin version
+        return copyReplyFile('test_plugin.zip')
+        .then(() => {
+          return getPackData(settings, logger);
+        })
+        .then(() => {
+          expect(settings.plugins[0].kibanaVersion).to.be('1.0.0');
+        });
+      });
+
       it('populate settings.plugins with multiple plugins', function () {
         return copyReplyFile('test_plugin_many.zip')
         .then(() => {
diff --git a/src/cli_plugin/install/__tests__/replies/test_plugin_different_version.zip b/src/cli_plugin/install/__tests__/replies/test_plugin_different_version.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..12baa165fdb56
Binary files /dev/null and b/src/cli_plugin/install/__tests__/replies/test_plugin_different_version.zip differ
diff --git a/src/cli_plugin/install/kibana.js b/src/cli_plugin/install/kibana.js
index 065808f658eaa..86992fadf7a10 100644
--- a/src/cli_plugin/install/kibana.js
+++ b/src/cli_plugin/install/kibana.js
@@ -46,14 +46,14 @@ export async function rebuildCache(settings, logger) {
 }
 
 export function assertVersion(settings) {
-  if (!settings.plugins[0].version) {
-    throw new Error (`Plugin version not found. Check package.json in archive`);
+  if (!settings.plugins[0].kibanaVersion) {
+    throw new Error (`Plugin package.json is missing both a version property (required) and a kibana.version property (optional).`);
   }
 
-  const actual = cleanVersion(settings.plugins[0].version);
+  const actual = cleanVersion(settings.plugins[0].kibanaVersion);
   const expected = cleanVersion(settings.version);
   if (!versionSatisfies(actual, expected)) {
-    throw new Error (`Incorrect version in plugin [${settings.plugins[0].name}]. ` +
+    throw new Error (`Incorrect Kibana version in plugin [${settings.plugins[0].name}]. ` +
       `Expected [${expected}]; found [${actual}]`);
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/cli_plugin/install/pack.js b/src/cli_plugin/install/pack.js
index 5df302d5a86ff..76056523a3121 100644
--- a/src/cli_plugin/install/pack.js
+++ b/src/cli_plugin/install/pack.js
@@ -55,10 +55,10 @@ function assertValidPackageName(plugin) {
   }
 }
 
-
 /**
  * Examine each package.json file to determine the plugin name,
- *  version, and platform. Mutates the package objects in the packages array
+ *  version, kibanaVersion, and platform. Mutates the package objects
+ *  in the packages array
  * @param {object} settings - a plugin installer settings object
  * @param {array} packages - array of package objects from listPackages()
  */
@@ -71,6 +71,12 @@ async function mergePackageData(settings, packages) {
     pkg.name = _.get(packageInfo, 'name');
     pkg.path =  resolve(settings.pluginDir, pkg.name);
 
+    // Plugins must specify their version, and by default that version should match
+    // the version of kibana down to the patch level. If these two versions need
+    // to diverge, they can specify a kibana.version to indicate the version of
+    // kibana the plugin is intended to work with.
+    pkg.kibanaVersion = _.get(packageInfo, 'kibana.version', pkg.version);
+
     const regExp = new RegExp(`${pkg.name}-(.+)`, 'i');
     const matches = pkg.folder.match(regExp);
     pkg.platform = (matches) ? matches[1] : undefined;