diff --git a/desktop/source/lib/init.cxx b/desktop/source/lib/init.cxx
index 2d30a3239e56..ab765dce3538 100644
--- a/desktop/source/lib/init.cxx
+++ b/desktop/source/lib/init.cxx
@@ -2007,7 +2007,15 @@ static void lo_setDocumentPassword(LibreOfficeKit* pThis,
 
 static char* lo_getVersionInfo(LibreOfficeKit* /*pThis*/)
 {
-    const OString sVersionStr = OUStringToOString(ReplaceStringHookProc("%PRODUCTNAME %PRODUCTVERSION %PRODUCTEXTENSION %BUILDID"), RTL_TEXTENCODING_UTF8);
+    const OUString sVersionStrTemplate(
+        "{ "
+        "\"ProductName\": \"%PRODUCTNAME\", "
+        "\"ProductVersion\": \"%PRODUCTVERSION\", "
+        "\"ProductExtension\": \"%PRODUCTEXTENSION\", "
+        "\"BuildId\": \"%BUILDID\" "
+        "}"
+    );
+    const OString sVersionStr = OUStringToOString(ReplaceStringHookProc(sVersionStrTemplate), RTL_TEXTENCODING_UTF8);
 
     char* pVersion = static_cast<char*>(malloc(sVersionStr.getLength() + 1));
     strcpy(pVersion, sVersionStr.getStr());
diff --git a/include/LibreOfficeKit/LibreOfficeKit.hxx b/include/LibreOfficeKit/LibreOfficeKit.hxx
index 46a5e964f751..eae43af27178 100644
--- a/include/LibreOfficeKit/LibreOfficeKit.hxx
+++ b/include/LibreOfficeKit/LibreOfficeKit.hxx
@@ -550,10 +550,13 @@ public:
     /**
      * Get version information of the LOKit process
      *
-     * @returns string containing version information in format:
-     * PRODUCT_NAME PRODUCT_VERSION PRODUCT_EXTENSION BUILD_ID
+     * @returns JSON string containing version information in format:
+     * {ProductName: <>, ProductVersion: <>, ProductExtension: <>, BuildId: <>}
      *
-     * Eg: LibreOffice 5.3 .0.0 alpha0 <commit hash>
+     * Eg: {"ProductName": "LibreOffice",
+     * "ProductVersion": "5.3",
+     * "ProductExtension": ".0.0.alpha0",
+     * "BuildId": "<full 40 char git hash>"}
      */
     inline char* getVersionInfo()
     {
diff --git a/include/LibreOfficeKit/LibreOfficeKitGtk.h b/include/LibreOfficeKit/LibreOfficeKitGtk.h
index 4b4284e423fc..fc7cec141396 100644
--- a/include/LibreOfficeKit/LibreOfficeKitGtk.h
+++ b/include/LibreOfficeKit/LibreOfficeKitGtk.h
@@ -319,12 +319,15 @@ void                            lok_doc_view_set_document_password (LOKDocView*
  * lok_doc_view_get_version_info:
  * @pDocView: The #LOKDocView instance
  *
- * Get version information of underlying LOKit process
+ * Get version information of the LOKit process
  *
- * Returns: string containing version information in format
- * PRODUCT_NAME PRODUCT_VERSION PRODUCT_EXTENSION BUILD_ID
+ * Returns: JSON string containing version information in format:
+ * {ProductName: <>, ProductVersion: <>, ProductExtension: <>, BuildId: <>}
  *
- * Eg: LibreOffice 5.3 .0.0.alpha0 <commit hash>
+ * Eg: {"ProductName": "LibreOffice",
+ * "ProductVersion": "5.3",
+ * "ProductExtension": ".0.0.alpha0",
+ * "BuildId": "<full 40 char git hash>"}
  */
 gchar*                         lok_doc_view_get_version_info       (LOKDocView* pDocView);