diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/make-derivation.nix b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/make-derivation.nix
index 8fd58c3cbe9..dcf73a38a1d 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/make-derivation.nix
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/make-derivation.nix
@@ -67,6 +67,8 @@ rec {
     , pos ? # position used in error messages and for meta.position
         (if attrs.meta.description or null != null
           then builtins.unsafeGetAttrPos "description" attrs.meta
+          else if attrs.version or null != null
+          then builtins.unsafeGetAttrPos "version" attrs
           else builtins.unsafeGetAttrPos "name" attrs)
     , separateDebugInfo ? false
     , outputs ? [ "out" ]