diff --git a/cmake/FindQGIS.cmake b/cmake/FindQGIS.cmake
index d4f25caa5e4..e90cb1c3a96 100644
--- a/cmake/FindQGIS.cmake
+++ b/cmake/FindQGIS.cmake
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ## Once run this will define:
 ##
-## QGIS_FOUND       = system has QGIS lib
+## QGIS_FOUND            = system has QGIS lib
 ##
 ## QGIS_CORE_LIBRARY     = full path to the CORE library
 ## QGIS_GUI_LIBRARY      = full path to the GUI library
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@
 ## QGIS_INCLUDE_DIR      = where to find headers
 ## QGIS_UI_INCLUDE_DIR   = where to find ui_* generated headers
 ##
+## QGIS_VERSION          = version as defined in qgsconfig.h, as major.minor.patch
+##
 ## Definitions or ENV variables affecting search locations
 ##
 ## OSGEO4W_ROOT          = [A-Z]:/path/to/OSGeo4W/install/root
@@ -205,12 +207,35 @@ ELSE(WIN32)
   ENDIF(UNIX)
 ENDIF(WIN32)
 
+IF (QGIS_INCLUDE_DIR)
+  SET(QGIS_VERSION QGIS_VERSION-NOTFOUND)
+  FIND_FILE(_qgsconfig_h qgsconfig.h PATHS ${QGIS_INCLUDE_DIR})
+  IF (_qgsconfig_h)
+    FILE(READ ${_qgsconfig_h} _qgsconfig)
+    IF (_qgsconfig)
+      # version defined like #define VERSION "2.14.8-Essen"
+      FILE(STRINGS "${_qgsconfig_h}" _qgsversion_str REGEX "^#define VERSION .*$")
+      STRING(REGEX REPLACE "^#define VERSION +\"([0-9]+\\.[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+).*$" "\\1" _qgsversion "${_qgsversion_str}")
+      IF (_qgsversion)
+        SET(QGIS_VERSION ${_qgsversion})
+      ELSE ()
+        MESSAGE(WARNING "No QGIS version determined: failed to parse qgsconfig.h")
+      ENDIF ()
+    ELSE()
+      MESSAGE(WARNING "No QGIS version determined: failed to read qgsconfig.h")
+    ENDIF ()
+  ELSE ()
+    MESSAGE(WARNING "No QGIS version determined: failed to find qgsconfig.h")
+  ENDIF ()
+ENDIF ()
+
 IF (QGIS_INCLUDE_DIR AND QGIS_CORE_LIBRARY AND QGIS_GUI_LIBRARY AND QGIS_ANALYSIS_LIBRARY)
    SET(QGIS_FOUND TRUE)
 ENDIF ()
 
 IF (QGIS_FOUND)
    IF (NOT QGIS_FIND_QUIETLY)
+     MESSAGE(STATUS "Found QGIS: ${QGIS_VERSION}")
      MESSAGE(STATUS "Found QGIS core: ${QGIS_CORE_LIBRARY}")
      MESSAGE(STATUS "Found QGIS gui: ${QGIS_GUI_LIBRARY}")
      MESSAGE(STATUS "Found QGIS analysis: ${QGIS_ANALYSIS_LIBRARY}")