diff --git a/lisp/emacs-lisp/loaddefs-gen.el b/lisp/emacs-lisp/loaddefs-gen.el
index 581053f6304..42f386933dc 100644
--- a/lisp/emacs-lisp/loaddefs-gen.el
+++ b/lisp/emacs-lisp/loaddefs-gen.el
@@ -433,7 +433,8 @@ loaddefs-generate--parse-file
           ;; loaddefs for packages so that `syntax-ppss' later gives
           ;; correct results.
           (emacs-lisp-mode)
-        (let ((version (lm-header "version"))
+        (let ((version (or (lm-header "package-version")
+                           (lm-header "version")))
               package)
           (when (and version
                      (setq version (ignore-errors (version-to-list version)))