diff --git a/pkg/cmd/root/root.go b/pkg/cmd/root/root.go
index b5b51970f..16276fd22 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/root/root.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/root/root.go
@@ -1,10 +1,7 @@
 package root
 
 import (
-	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
-	"regexp"
-	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/MakeNowJust/heredoc"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/api"
@@ -22,6 +19,7 @@ import (
 	releaseCmd "github.com/cli/cli/pkg/cmd/release"
 	repoCmd "github.com/cli/cli/pkg/cmd/repo"
 	creditsCmd "github.com/cli/cli/pkg/cmd/repo/credits"
+	versionCmd "github.com/cli/cli/pkg/cmd/version"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/pkg/cmdutil"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
@@ -49,23 +47,6 @@ func NewCmdRoot(f *cmdutil.Factory, version, buildDate string) *cobra.Command {
 		},
 	}
 
-	version = strings.TrimPrefix(version, "v")
-	if buildDate == "" {
-		cmd.Version = version
-	} else {
-		cmd.Version = fmt.Sprintf("%s (%s)", version, buildDate)
-	}
-	versionOutput := fmt.Sprintf("gh version %s\n%s\n", cmd.Version, changelogURL(version))
-	cmd.AddCommand(&cobra.Command{
-		Use:    "version",
-		Hidden: true,
-		Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
-			fmt.Print(versionOutput)
-		},
-	})
-	cmd.SetVersionTemplate(versionOutput)
-	cmd.Flags().Bool("version", false, "Show gh version")
-
 	cmd.SetOut(f.IOStreams.Out)
 	cmd.SetErr(f.IOStreams.ErrOut)
 
@@ -74,7 +55,13 @@ func NewCmdRoot(f *cmdutil.Factory, version, buildDate string) *cobra.Command {
 	cmd.SetUsageFunc(rootUsageFunc)
 	cmd.SetFlagErrorFunc(rootFlagErrrorFunc)
 
+	formattedVersion := versionCmd.Format(version, buildDate)
+	cmd.SetVersionTemplate(formattedVersion)
+	cmd.Version = formattedVersion
+	cmd.Flags().Bool("version", false, "Show gh version")
+
 	// Child commands
+	cmd.AddCommand(versionCmd.NewCmdVersion(f, version, buildDate))
 	cmd.AddCommand(aliasCmd.NewCmdAlias(f))
 	cmd.AddCommand(authCmd.NewCmdAuth(f))
 	cmd.AddCommand(configCmd.NewCmdConfig(f))
@@ -140,14 +127,3 @@ func resolvedBaseRepo(f *cmdutil.Factory) func() (ghrepo.Interface, error) {
 		return baseRepo, nil
 	}
 }
-
-func changelogURL(version string) string {
-	path := "https://github.com/cli/cli"
-	r := regexp.MustCompile(`^v?\d+\.\d+\.\d+(-[\w.]+)?$`)
-	if !r.MatchString(version) {
-		return fmt.Sprintf("%s/releases/latest", path)
-	}
-
-	url := fmt.Sprintf("%s/releases/tag/v%s", path, strings.TrimPrefix(version, "v"))
-	return url
-}
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/version/version.go b/pkg/cmd/version/version.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..040a3132e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/cmd/version/version.go
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+package version
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"regexp"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/cli/cli/pkg/cmdutil"
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+)
+
+func NewCmdVersion(f *cmdutil.Factory, version, buildDate string) *cobra.Command {
+	cmd := &cobra.Command{
+		Use:    "version",
+		Hidden: true,
+		Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+			fmt.Fprint(f.IOStreams.Out, Format(version, buildDate))
+		},
+	}
+
+	cmdutil.DisableAuthCheck(cmd)
+
+	return cmd
+}
+
+func Format(version, buildDate string) string {
+	version = strings.TrimPrefix(version, "v")
+
+	if buildDate != "" {
+		version = fmt.Sprintf("%s (%s)", version, buildDate)
+	}
+
+	return fmt.Sprintf("gh version %s\n%s\n", version, changelogURL(version))
+}
+
+func changelogURL(version string) string {
+	path := "https://github.com/cli/cli"
+	r := regexp.MustCompile(`^v?\d+\.\d+\.\d+(-[\w.]+)?$`)
+	if !r.MatchString(version) {
+		return fmt.Sprintf("%s/releases/latest", path)
+	}
+
+	url := fmt.Sprintf("%s/releases/tag/v%s", path, strings.TrimPrefix(version, "v"))
+	return url
+}
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/root/root_test.go b/pkg/cmd/version/version_test.go
similarity index 98%
rename from pkg/cmd/root/root_test.go
rename to pkg/cmd/version/version_test.go
index 714032ec3..9a1d49db3 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/root/root_test.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/version/version_test.go
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-package root
+package version
 
 import (
 	"testing"