diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 5b1bb1f2f..d548b1b8a 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -696,6 +696,18 @@ check_permissions:
   script:
     - tools/ci/check-executable.sh
 
+check_version:
+  <<: *check_job_template
+  # Don't run this for feature/bugfix branches, so that it is possible to modify
+  # esp_idf_version.h in a branch before tagging the next version.
+  only:
+    - master
+    - /^release\/v/
+    - /^v\d+\.\d+(\.\d+)?($|-)/
+  script:
+    - export IDF_PATH=$PWD
+    - tools/ci/check_idf_version.sh
+
 check_examples_cmake_make:
   <<: *check_job_template
   except:
diff --git a/components/esp32/include/esp_idf_version.h b/components/esp32/include/esp_idf_version.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..488f1d694
--- /dev/null
+++ b/components/esp32/include/esp_idf_version.h
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+// Copyright 2019 Espressif Systems (Shanghai) PTE LTD
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+#pragma once
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+extern "C" {
+#endif
+
+/** Major version number (X.x.x) */
+#define ESP_IDF_VERSION_MAJOR   3
+/** Minor version number (x.X.x) */
+#define ESP_IDF_VERSION_MINOR   3
+/** Patch version number (x.x.X) */
+#define ESP_IDF_VERSION_PATCH   1
+
+/**
+ * Macro to convert IDF version number into an integer
+ *
+ * To be used in comparisons, such as ESP_IDF_VERSION >= ESP_IDF_VERSION_VAL(4, 0, 0)
+ */
+#define ESP_IDF_VERSION_VAL(major, minor, patch) ((major << 16) | (minor << 8) | (patch))
+
+/**
+ * Current IDF version, as an integer
+ *
+ * To be used in comparisons, such as ESP_IDF_VERSION >= ESP_IDF_VERSION_VAL(4, 0, 0)
+ */
+#define ESP_IDF_VERSION  ESP_IDF_VERSION_VAL(ESP_IDF_VERSION_MAJOR, \
+                                             ESP_IDF_VERSION_MINOR, \
+                                             ESP_IDF_VERSION_PATCH)
+
+/**
+ * Return full IDF version string, same as 'git describe' output.
+ *
+ * @note If you are printing the ESP-IDF version in a log file or other information,
+ * this function provides more information than using the numerical version macros.
+ * For example, numerical version macros don't differentiate between development,
+ * pre-release and release versions, but the output of this function does.
+ *
+ * @return constant string from IDF_VER
+ */
+const char* esp_get_idf_version(void);
+
+#ifdef __cplusplus
+}
+#endif
diff --git a/components/esp32/include/esp_system.h b/components/esp32/include/esp_system.h
index 05214c8f5..1a51999d3 100644
--- a/components/esp32/include/esp_system.h
+++ b/components/esp32/include/esp_system.h
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 #include <stdbool.h>
 #include "esp_err.h"
 #include "esp_sleep.h"
+#include "esp_idf_version.h"
 
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 extern "C" {
@@ -292,14 +293,6 @@ esp_err_t esp_derive_local_mac(uint8_t* local_mac, const uint8_t* universal_mac)
 const char* system_get_sdk_version(void)  __attribute__ ((deprecated));
 /** @endcond */
 
-/**
- * Get IDF version
- *
- * @return constant string from IDF_VER
- */
-const char* esp_get_idf_version(void);
-
-
 /**
  * @brief Chip models
  */
diff --git a/docs/Doxyfile b/docs/Doxyfile
index 7a60222a7..9bd831634 100644
--- a/docs/Doxyfile
+++ b/docs/Doxyfile
@@ -197,6 +197,8 @@ INPUT = \
     ## Base MAC address
     ## NOTE: for line below header_file.inc is not used
     ../../components/esp32/include/esp_system.h \
+    ## IDF version
+    ../../components/esp32/include/esp_idf_version.h \
     ##
     ## ULP Coprocessor - API Guides
     ##
diff --git a/docs/en/api-guides/build-system-cmake.rst b/docs/en/api-guides/build-system-cmake.rst
index 813857b61..b5054c40a 100644
--- a/docs/en/api-guides/build-system-cmake.rst
+++ b/docs/en/api-guides/build-system-cmake.rst
@@ -341,6 +341,7 @@ The following variables are set at the project level, but available for use in c
 - ``COMPONENTS``: Names of all components that are included in this build, formatted as a semicolon-delimited CMake list.
 - ``CONFIG_*``: Each value in the project configuration has a corresponding variable available in cmake. All names begin with ``CONFIG_``. :doc:`More information here </api-reference/kconfig>`.
 - ``IDF_VER``: Git version of ESP-IDF (produced by ``git describe``)
+- ``IDF_VERSION_MAJOR``, ``IDF_VERSION_MINOR``, ``IDF_VERSION_PATCH``: Components of ESP-IDF version, to be used in conditional expressions. Note that this information is less precise than that provided by ``IDF_VER`` variable. ``v4.0-dev-*``, ``v4.0-beta1``, ``v4.0-rc1`` and ``v4.0`` will all have the same values of ``IDF_VERSION_*`` variables, but different ``IDF_VER`` values.
 - ``IDF_TARGET``: Name of the target for which the project is being built.
 - ``PROJECT_VER``: Project version.
 
diff --git a/docs/en/api-guides/build-system.rst b/docs/en/api-guides/build-system.rst
index 8c85c65d3..5f936c05f 100644
--- a/docs/en/api-guides/build-system.rst
+++ b/docs/en/api-guides/build-system.rst
@@ -188,6 +188,7 @@ The following variables are set at the project level, but exported for use in th
 - ``CC``, ``LD``, ``AR``, ``OBJCOPY``: Full paths to each tool from the gcc xtensa cross-toolchain.
 - ``HOSTCC``, ``HOSTLD``, ``HOSTAR``: Full names of each tool from the host native toolchain.
 - ``IDF_VER``: ESP-IDF version, retrieved from either ``$(IDF_PATH)/version.txt`` file (if present) else using git command ``git describe``. Recommended format here is single liner that specifies major IDF release version, e.g. ``v2.0`` for a tagged release or ``v2.0-275-g0efaa4f`` for an arbitrary commit. Application can make use of this by calling :cpp:func:`esp_get_idf_version`.
+- ``IDF_VERSION_MAJOR``, ``IDF_VERSION_MINOR``, ``IDF_VERSION_PATCH``: Components of ESP-IDF version, to be used in conditional expressions. Note that this information is less precise than that provided by ``IDF_VER`` variable. ``v4.0-dev-*``, ``v4.0-beta1``, ``v4.0-rc1`` and ``v4.0`` will all have the same values of ``ESP_IDF_VERSION_*`` variables, but different ``IDF_VER`` values.
 - ``PROJECT_VER``: Project version. 
 
   * If ``PROJECT_VER`` variable is set in project Makefile file, its value will be used.
diff --git a/docs/en/api-reference/system/system.rst b/docs/en/api-reference/system/system.rst
index 2d3682abe..e4a8c7af1 100644
--- a/docs/en/api-reference/system/system.rst
+++ b/docs/en/api-reference/system/system.rst
@@ -111,6 +111,21 @@ SDK version
 
 :cpp:func:`esp_get_idf_version` returns a string describing the IDF version which was used to compile the application. This is the same value as the one available through ``IDF_VER`` variable of the build system. The version string generally has the format of ``git describe`` output.
 
+To get the version at build time, additional version macros are provided. They can be used to enable or disable parts of the program depending on IDF version.
+
+* :c:macro:`ESP_IDF_VERSION_MAJOR`, :c:macro:`ESP_IDF_VERSION_MINOR`, :c:macro:`ESP_IDF_VERSION_PATCH` are defined to integers representing major, minor, and patch version.
+
+* :c:macro:`ESP_IDF_VERSION_VAL` and :c:macro:`ESP_IDF_VERSION` can be used when implementing version checks:
+  
+  .. code-block:: c
+
+      #include "esp_idf_version.h"
+
+      #if ESP_IDF_VERSION >= ESP_IDF_VERSION_VAL(4, 0, 0)
+          // enable functionality present in IDF v4.0
+      #endif
+
+
 App version
 -----------
 Application version is stored in :cpp:class:`esp_app_desc_t` structure. It is located in DROM sector and has a fixed offset from the beginning of the binary file. 
@@ -127,5 +142,6 @@ API Reference
 -------------
 
 .. include:: /_build/inc/esp_system.inc
+.. include:: /_build/inc/esp_idf_version.inc
 
 
diff --git a/docs/zh_CN/api-guides/build-system-cmake.rst b/docs/zh_CN/api-guides/build-system-cmake.rst
index 1764a7034..27849606f 100644
--- a/docs/zh_CN/api-guides/build-system-cmake.rst
+++ b/docs/zh_CN/api-guides/build-system-cmake.rst
@@ -315,6 +315,7 @@ ESP-IDF 在搜索所有待构建的组件时，会按照 ``COMPONENT_DIRS`` 指
 - ``COMPONENTS``：此次构建中包含的所有组件的名称，具体格式为用分号隔开的 CMake 列表。
 - ``CONFIG_*``：项目配置中的每个值在 cmake 中都对应一个以 ``CONFIG_`` 开头的变量。更多详细信息请参阅 :doc:`Kconfig </api-reference/kconfig>`。
 - ``IDF_VER``：ESP-IDF 的 git 版本号，由 ``git describe`` 命令生成。
+- ``IDF_VERSION_MAJOR``, ``IDF_VERSION_MINOR``, ``IDF_VERSION_PATCH``: ESP-IDF 的组件版本，可用于条件表达式。请注意这些信息的精确度不如 ``IDF_VER`` 变量，版本号 ``v4.0-dev-*``， ``v4.0-beta1``， ``v4.0-rc1`` 和 ``v4.0`` 对应的 ``IDF_VERSION_*`` 变量值是相同的，但是 ``IDF_VER`` 的值是不同的。
 - ``IDF_TARGET``：项目的硬件目标名称。
 - ``PROJECT_VER``：项目版本号。
 
diff --git a/docs/zh_CN/api-guides/build-system.rst b/docs/zh_CN/api-guides/build-system.rst
index 366f7d79f..60bba24ef 100644
--- a/docs/zh_CN/api-guides/build-system.rst
+++ b/docs/zh_CN/api-guides/build-system.rst
@@ -176,6 +176,7 @@ ESP-IDF 搜索组件时，会按照 ``COMPONENT_DIRS`` 指定的顺序依次进
 -  ``CC``，``LD``，``AR``，``OBJCOPY``： gcc xtensa 交叉编译工具链中每个工具的完整路径。
 -  ``HOSTCC``，``HOSTLD``，``HOSTAR``： 主机本地工具链中每个工具的全名。
 -  ``IDF_VER``： ESP-IDF 的版本号，可以通过检索 ``$(IDF_PATH)/version.txt`` 文件（假如存在的话）或者使用 git 命令 ``git describe`` 来获取。这里推荐的格式是在一行中指定主 IDF 的发布版本号，例如标记为 ``v2.0`` 的发布版本或者是标记任意一次提交记录的 ``v2.0-275-g0efaa4f``。应用程序可以通过调用 :cpp:func:`esp_get_idf_version` 函数来使用该变量。
+-  ``IDF_VERSION_MAJOR``, ``IDF_VERSION_MINOR``, ``IDF_VERSION_PATCH``: ESP-IDF 的组件版本，可用于条件表达式。请注意这些信息的精确度不如 ``IDF_VER`` 变量，版本号 ``v4.0-dev-*``， ``v4.0-beta1``， ``v4.0-rc1`` 和 ``v4.0`` 对应的 ``IDF_VERSION_*`` 变量值是相同的，但是 ``IDF_VER`` 的值是不同的。
 
 如果您在 ``component.mk`` 文件中修改这些变量，这并不会影响其它组件的构建，但可能会使您的组件变得难以构建或调试。
 
diff --git a/make/common.mk b/make/common.mk
index 468bf2c68..2a7faba0c 100644
--- a/make/common.mk
+++ b/make/common.mk
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ ifdef CONFIG_MAKE_WARN_UNDEFINED_VARIABLES
 MAKEFLAGS += --warn-undefined-variables
 endif
 
+# Get version variables
+include $(IDF_PATH)/make/version.mk
+
 # General make utilities
 
 # convenience variable for printing an 80 asterisk wide separator line
diff --git a/make/project.mk b/make/project.mk
index d9729c719..9ae62138a 100644
--- a/make/project.mk
+++ b/make/project.mk
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ export PROJECT_PATH
 endif
 
 # A list of the "common" makefiles, to use as a target dependency
-COMMON_MAKEFILES := $(abspath $(IDF_PATH)/make/project.mk $(IDF_PATH)/make/common.mk $(IDF_PATH)/make/component_wrapper.mk $(firstword $(MAKEFILE_LIST)))
+COMMON_MAKEFILES := $(abspath $(IDF_PATH)/make/project.mk $(IDF_PATH)/make/common.mk $(IDF_PATH)/make/version.mk $(IDF_PATH)/make/component_wrapper.mk $(firstword $(MAKEFILE_LIST)))
 export COMMON_MAKEFILES
 
 # The directory where we put all objects/libraries/binaries. The project Makefile can
diff --git a/make/version.mk b/make/version.mk
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..be5d8c80b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/make/version.mk
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+IDF_VERSION_MAJOR := 3
+IDF_VERSION_MINOR := 3
+IDF_VERSION_PATCH := 1
diff --git a/tools/ci/check_idf_version.sh b/tools/ci/check_idf_version.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..143acf592
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/ci/check_idf_version.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -u
+set -e
+
+echo "Checking if IDF version in esp_idf_version.h matches 'git describe' output"
+
+function get_ver_from_header() {
+    # Get the 3rd word from '#define ESP_IDF_VERSION_X <number>' line.
+    grep -E "^#define ${1}" components/esp32/include/esp_idf_version.h | awk '{print $3;}'
+}
+
+function get_ver_from_make() {
+    grep -E "^${1} :=" make/version.mk | awk '{print $3;}'
+}
+
+function get_ver_from_cmake() {
+    grep -E "^set\(${1}" tools/cmake/version.cmake | sed -En "s/set\(${1} ([0-9])\)/\1/p"
+}
+
+header_ver_major=$(get_ver_from_header ESP_IDF_VERSION_MAJOR)
+header_ver_minor=$(get_ver_from_header ESP_IDF_VERSION_MINOR)
+header_ver_patch=$(get_ver_from_header ESP_IDF_VERSION_PATCH)
+version_from_header="${header_ver_major}.${header_ver_minor}.${header_ver_patch}"
+
+make_ver_major=$(get_ver_from_make IDF_VERSION_MAJOR)
+make_ver_minor=$(get_ver_from_make IDF_VERSION_MINOR)
+make_ver_patch=$(get_ver_from_make IDF_VERSION_PATCH)
+version_from_make="${make_ver_major}.${make_ver_minor}.${make_ver_patch}"
+
+cmake_ver_major=$(get_ver_from_cmake IDF_VERSION_MAJOR)
+cmake_ver_minor=$(get_ver_from_cmake IDF_VERSION_MINOR)
+cmake_ver_patch=$(get_ver_from_cmake IDF_VERSION_PATCH)
+version_from_cmake="${cmake_ver_major}.${cmake_ver_minor}.${cmake_ver_patch}"
+
+git_desc=$(git describe --tags)
+git_desc_regex="^v([0-9]+)\.([0-9]+)(\.([0-9]+))?.*$"
+if [[ ! ${git_desc} =~ ${git_desc_regex} ]]; then
+    echo "Could not determine the version from 'git describe' output: ${git_desc}"
+    exit 1
+fi
+version_from_git="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}.${BASH_REMATCH[2]}.${BASH_REMATCH[4]:-0}"
+
+echo "From esp_idf_version.h: ${version_from_header}"
+echo "From version.mk: ${version_from_make}"
+echo "From version.cmake: ${version_from_cmake}" 
+echo "From git describe: ${version_from_git}"
+
+if [[ "${version_from_header}" != "${version_from_git}" ]]; then
+    echo "esp_idf_version.h does not match 'git describe' output"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+if [[ "${version_from_make}" != "${version_from_git}" ]]; then
+    echo "version.mk does not match 'git describe' output"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+if [[ "${version_from_cmake}" != "${version_from_git}" ]]; then
+    echo "version.cmake does not match 'git describe' output"
+    exit 1
+fi
diff --git a/tools/ci/executable-list.txt b/tools/ci/executable-list.txt
index a89c6c0bc..4d9e2ce8f 100644
--- a/tools/ci/executable-list.txt
+++ b/tools/ci/executable-list.txt
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ docs/gen-version-specific-includes.py
 tools/ci/apply_bot_filter.py
 tools/ci/build_examples.sh
 tools/ci/build_examples_cmake.sh
+tools/ci/check_idf_version.sh
 tools/ci/check-executable.sh
 tools/ci/check-line-endings.sh
 tools/ci/checkout_project_ref.py
diff --git a/tools/cmake/idf_functions.cmake b/tools/cmake/idf_functions.cmake
index bc32ac217..cb3033e9b 100644
--- a/tools/cmake/idf_functions.cmake
+++ b/tools/cmake/idf_functions.cmake
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ if(NOT __idf_environment_set)
     include(GetGitRevisionDescription)
     include(crosstool_version_check)
     include(ldgen)
+    include(version)
 
     set_default(PYTHON "python")
 
diff --git a/tools/cmake/version.cmake b/tools/cmake/version.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a942da6aa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/cmake/version.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+set(IDF_VERSION_MAJOR 3)
+set(IDF_VERSION_MINOR 3)
+set(IDF_VERSION_PATCH 1)