diff --git a/makepanda/makepanda.py b/makepanda/makepanda.py
index 4faa683f87..ac528371c7 100755
--- a/makepanda/makepanda.py
+++ b/makepanda/makepanda.py
@@ -368,6 +368,9 @@ if VERSION is None:
     else:
         VERSION = ParsePandaVersion("dtool/PandaVersion.pp")
 
+if WHLVERSION is None:
+    WHLVERSION = VERSION
+
 print("Version: %s" % VERSION)
 if RUNTIME or RTDIST:
     print("Core API Version: %s" % COREAPI_VERSION)