diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-deployment-private.h b/src/libostree/ostree-deployment-private.h
index ad77317d79..880f9b562d 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-deployment-private.h
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-deployment-private.h
@@ -52,8 +52,10 @@ struct _OstreeDeployment
   GKeyFile *origin;
   OstreeDeploymentUnlockedState unlocked;
   gboolean staged;
+  gchar *version;
 };
 
 void _ostree_deployment_set_bootcsum (OstreeDeployment *self, const char *bootcsum);
+char *_ostree_deployment_get_version (OstreeDeployment *self, OstreeRepo *repo, GError **error);
 
 G_END_DECLS
diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-deployment.c b/src/libostree/ostree-deployment.c
index 98927c5f9d..a4543fea70 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-deployment.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-deployment.c
@@ -63,37 +63,30 @@ ostree_deployment_get_bootserial (OstreeDeployment *self)
   return self->bootserial;
 }
 
-/*
- * ostree_deployment_get_version:
- * @self: Deployment
- *
- * Returns: (transfer full): The deployment's version
- */
 char *
-ostree_deployment_get_version (OstreeDeployment  *self,
-                               OstreeRepo        *repo,
-                               GError           **error)
+_ostree_deployment_get_version (OstreeDeployment  *self,
+                                OstreeRepo        *repo,
+                                GError           **error)
 {
-  gchar *version = NULL;
+  g_return_val_if_fail (repo != NULL, NULL);
 
-  if (!repo)
-    return NULL;
+  if (self->version != NULL)
+    return self->version;
 
   /* Try extracting a version for this deployment. */
   const gchar *csum = ostree_deployment_get_csum (self);
-  g_autoptr(GVariant) variant = NULL;
-  g_autoptr(GVariant) metadata = NULL;
 
-  /* XXX Copying ot_admin_checksum_version() + bits from
-   *     ot-admin-builtin-status.c.  Maybe this should be
-   *     public API in libostree? */
+  gchar *version = NULL;
+  g_autoptr(GVariant) variant = NULL;
   if (ostree_repo_load_variant (repo, OSTREE_OBJECT_TYPE_COMMIT, csum,
         &variant, error))
   {
-    metadata = g_variant_get_child_value (variant, 0);
+    g_autoptr(GVariant) metadata = g_variant_get_child_value (variant, 0);
     g_variant_lookup (metadata, OSTREE_COMMIT_META_KEY_VERSION, "s", &version);
   }
 
+  self->version = version;
+
   return version;
 }
 
@@ -270,6 +263,7 @@ ostree_deployment_finalize (GObject *object)
   g_free (self->osname);
   g_free (self->csum);
   g_free (self->bootcsum);
+  g_free (self->version);
   g_clear_object (&self->bootconfig);
   g_clear_pointer (&self->origin, g_key_file_unref);
 
diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-deployment.h b/src/libostree/ostree-deployment.h
index 62f109ad7a..756e39d2b4 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-deployment.h
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-deployment.h
@@ -72,8 +72,6 @@ _OSTREE_PUBLIC
 OstreeBootconfigParser *ostree_deployment_get_bootconfig (OstreeDeployment *self);
 _OSTREE_PUBLIC
 GKeyFile *ostree_deployment_get_origin (OstreeDeployment *self);
-_OSTREE_PUBLIC
-char *ostree_deployment_get_version (OstreeDeployment *self, OstreeRepo *repo, GError **error);
 
 _OSTREE_PUBLIC
 gboolean ostree_deployment_is_staged (OstreeDeployment *self);
diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot-deploy.c b/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot-deploy.c
index e0aa72dcff..60f08ccfaa 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot-deploy.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot-deploy.c
@@ -1740,8 +1740,8 @@ install_deployment_kernel (OstreeSysroot   *sysroot,
   if (val == NULL)
     return glnx_throw (error, "No PRETTY_NAME or ID in /etc/os-release");
 
-  g_autofree char *deployment_version =
-      ostree_deployment_get_version (deployment, repo, error);
+  const gchar *deployment_version =
+      _ostree_deployment_get_version (deployment, repo, error);
 
   /* XXX The SYSLINUX bootloader backend actually parses the title string
    *     (specifically, it looks for the substring "(ostree"), so further
diff --git a/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot.c b/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot.c
index 8ed6da6adc..4dfd5edf26 100644
--- a/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot.c
+++ b/src/libostree/ostree-sysroot.c
@@ -1635,7 +1635,7 @@ ostree_sysroot_simple_write_deployment (OstreeSysroot      *sysroot,
   gboolean before_booted = TRUE;
   gboolean before_merge = TRUE;
   /* tracks last version */
-  g_autofree char *last_version = NULL;
+  const gchar *last_version = NULL;
   gboolean retained_previous_version = FALSE;
   for (guint i = 0; i < deployments->len; i++)
     {
@@ -1658,13 +1658,13 @@ ostree_sysroot_simple_write_deployment (OstreeSysroot      *sysroot,
       if (!retained_previous_version)
         {
           OstreeRepo *repo = ostree_sysroot_repo (sysroot);
-          g_autofree char *deployment_version =
-            ostree_deployment_get_version (deployment, repo, error);
+          const gchar *deployment_version =
+            _ostree_deployment_get_version (deployment, repo, error);
 
           if (deployment_version && *deployment_version)
             {
               if (!last_version)
-                last_version = g_steal_pointer (&deployment_version);
+                last_version = deployment_version;
 
               is_previous_version = (osname_matches && passed_crossover && last_version &&
                                      (g_strcmp0 (deployment_version, last_version) != 0));