diff --git a/CMake/coreneuron-config.cmake.in b/CMake/coreneuron-config.cmake.in
index c34993977..29f67c92f 100644
--- a/CMake/coreneuron-config.cmake.in
+++ b/CMake/coreneuron-config.cmake.in
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # =============================================================================
-# Copyright (C) 2016-2021 Blue Brain Project
+# Copyright (C) 2016-2022 Blue Brain Project
 #
 # See top-level LICENSE file for details.
 # =============================================================================
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@
 
 get_filename_component(CONFIG_PATH "${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_FILE}" PATH)
 
+set(CORENRN_VERSION_MAJOR @PROJECT_VERSION_MAJOR@)
+set(CORENRN_VERSION_MINOR @PROJECT_VERSION_MINOR@)
+set(CORENRN_VERSION_PATCH @PROJECT_VERSION_PATCH@)
 set(CORENRN_ENABLE_GPU @CORENRN_ENABLE_GPU@)
 set(CORENRN_ENABLE_NMODL @CORENRN_ENABLE_NMODL@)
 set(CORENRN_ENABLE_REPORTING @CORENRN_ENABLE_REPORTING@)
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 677bef690..e0ab6ee7a 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -4,9 +4,13 @@
 # See top-level LICENSE file for details.
 # =============================================================================
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.15 FATAL_ERROR)
+# CoreNEURON's version jumped from 1.0 to 8.2.0 with the introduction of the NRN_VERSION_* macros
+# for use in VERBATIM blocks. Starting from this version, the NEURON and CoreNEURON versions are
+# locked together. A version has to be hardcoded here to handle the case that CoreNEURON is built
+# standalone.
 project(
   coreneuron
-  VERSION 1.0
+  VERSION 8.2.0
   LANGUAGES CXX)
 
 # ~~~
@@ -36,11 +40,40 @@ endif()
 # =============================================================================
 # Settings to enable project as submodule
 # =============================================================================
+set(CORENEURON_PROJECT_BINARY_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR})
 set(CORENEURON_PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR})
 set(CORENEURON_AS_SUBPROJECT OFF)
 if(NOT CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR STREQUAL CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR)
   set(CORENEURON_AS_SUBPROJECT ON)
-endif()
+  # Make these visible to the parent project (NEURON) so it can do some sanity checking.
+  set_property(GLOBAL PROPERTY CORENRN_VERSION_MAJOR ${PROJECT_VERSION_MAJOR})
+  set_property(GLOBAL PROPERTY CORENRN_VERSION_MINOR ${PROJECT_VERSION_MINOR})
+  set_property(GLOBAL PROPERTY CORENRN_VERSION_PATCH ${PROJECT_VERSION_PATCH})
+endif()
+if(NOT DEFINED NRN_VERSION_MAJOR
+   OR NOT DEFINED NRN_VERSION_MINOR
+   OR NOT DEFINED NRN_VERSION_PATCH)
+  if(CORENEURON_AS_SUBPROJECT)
+    set(level WARNING)
+  else()
+    set(level STATUS)
+  endif()
+  # Typically in this case CoreNEURON is being built standalone. In this case NRN_VERSION_* macros
+  # resolve to the CoreNEURON version, which is supposed to be moving in lockstep with the NEURON
+  # version.
+  set(NRN_VERSION_MAJOR ${PROJECT_VERSION_MAJOR})
+  set(NRN_VERSION_MINOR ${PROJECT_VERSION_MINOR})
+  set(NRN_VERSION_PATCH ${PROJECT_VERSION_PATCH})
+  message(${level} "CoreNEURON could not determine the NEURON version, using the hardcoded "
+          "${NRN_VERSION_MAJOR}.${NRN_VERSION_MINOR}.${NRN_VERSION_PATCH}")
+endif()
+# Regardless of whether we are being built as a submodule of NEURON, NRN_VERSION_{MAJOR,MINOR,PATCH}
+# are now set to the version that we should claim compatibility with when compiling translated MOD
+# files. Generate a header under a special `generated` prefix in the build directory, so that
+# -I/path/to/src -I/path/to/build/generated is safe (headers from the source prefix are copied
+# elsewhere under the build prefix, so there is scope for confusion)
+configure_file(coreneuron/config/neuron_version.hpp.in
+               generated/coreneuron/config/neuron_version.hpp)
 
 # =============================================================================
 # Include cmake modules path
diff --git a/coreneuron/CMakeLists.txt b/coreneuron/CMakeLists.txt
index ffbd7fa45..55f5b9a5e 100644
--- a/coreneuron/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/coreneuron/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -187,9 +187,8 @@ set(CORENRN_MPI_LIB_NAME
 if(CORENRN_ENABLE_MPI AND NOT CORENRN_ENABLE_MPI_DYNAMIC)
   add_library(${CORENRN_MPI_LIB_NAME} OBJECT ${MPI_LIB_FILES})
   target_include_directories(
-    ${CORENRN_MPI_LIB_NAME}
-    PRIVATE ${MPI_INCLUDE_PATH}
-    PRIVATE ${CORENEURON_PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR})
+    ${CORENRN_MPI_LIB_NAME} PRIVATE ${MPI_INCLUDE_PATH} ${CORENEURON_PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}
+                                    ${CORENEURON_PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/generated)
   set_property(TARGET ${CORENRN_MPI_LIB_NAME} PROPERTY POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE ON)
   set(CORENRN_MPI_OBJ $<TARGET_OBJECTS:${CORENRN_MPI_LIB_NAME}>)
 endif()
@@ -206,7 +205,8 @@ add_library(
   ${MPI_CORE_FILES}
   ${CORENRN_MPI_OBJ})
 
-target_include_directories(coreneuron PRIVATE ${CORENEURON_PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR})
+target_include_directories(coreneuron PRIVATE ${CORENEURON_PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}
+                                              ${CORENEURON_PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/generated)
 # we can link to MPI libraries in non-dynamic-mpi build
 if(CORENRN_ENABLE_MPI AND NOT CORENRN_ENABLE_MPI_DYNAMIC)
   target_link_libraries(coreneuron ${MPI_CXX_LIBRARIES})
@@ -234,9 +234,8 @@ if(CORENRN_ENABLE_MPI AND CORENRN_ENABLE_MPI_DYNAMIC)
     add_library(${CORENRN_MPI_LIB_NAME} SHARED ${MPI_LIB_FILES})
     target_link_libraries(${CORENRN_MPI_LIB_NAME} ${MPI_CXX_LIBRARIES})
     target_include_directories(
-      ${CORENRN_MPI_LIB_NAME}
-      PRIVATE ${MPI_INCLUDE_PATH}
-      PRIVATE ${CORENEURON_PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR})
+      ${CORENRN_MPI_LIB_NAME} PRIVATE ${MPI_INCLUDE_PATH} ${CORENEURON_PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}
+                                      ${CORENEURON_PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/generated)
     set_property(TARGET ${CORENRN_MPI_LIB_NAME} PROPERTY POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE ON)
     list(APPEND corenrn_mpi_targets ${CORENRN_MPI_LIB_NAME})
   else()
@@ -259,7 +258,7 @@ if(CORENRN_ENABLE_MPI AND CORENRN_ENABLE_MPI_DYNAMIC)
       target_include_directories(
         core${libname}_lib
         PUBLIC ${include}
-        PRIVATE ${CORENEURON_PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR})
+        PRIVATE ${CORENEURON_PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR} ${CORENEURON_PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/generated)
 
       # ~~~
       # TODO: somehow mingw requires explicit linking. This needs to be verified
@@ -295,7 +294,8 @@ add_dependencies(coreneuron kin_deriv_header nrnivmodl-core)
 
 # scopmath is created separately for nrnivmodl-core workflow
 add_library(scopmath STATIC ${CORENEURON_HEADER_FILES} ${SCOPMATH_CODE_FILES})
-target_include_directories(scopmath PRIVATE ${CORENEURON_PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR})
+target_include_directories(scopmath PRIVATE ${CORENEURON_PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}
+                                            ${CORENEURON_PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/generated)
 
 target_link_libraries(coreneuron ${reportinglib_LIBRARY} ${sonatareport_LIBRARY} ${CALIPER_LIB}
                       ${likwid_LIBRARIES})
@@ -374,6 +374,8 @@ file(
   RELATIVE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}"
   *.h *.hpp *.ispc)
 
+configure_file("${CORENEURON_PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/generated/coreneuron/config/neuron_version.hpp"
+               "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/include/coreneuron/config/neuron_version.hpp" COPYONLY)
 foreach(header ${main_headers})
   configure_file("${header}" "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/include/coreneuron/${header}" COPYONLY)
 endforeach()
diff --git a/coreneuron/config/neuron_version.hpp.in b/coreneuron/config/neuron_version.hpp.in
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cedb514af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/coreneuron/config/neuron_version.hpp.in
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+/*
+# =============================================================================
+# Copyright (c) 2022 Blue Brain Project/EPFL
+#
+# See top-level LICENSE file for details.
+# =============================================================================
+*/
+#pragma once
+
+// This is the CoreNEURON analogue of nrnsemanticversion.h in NEURON. Hopefully
+// the duplication can go away soon.
+#define NRN_VERSION_MAJOR @NRN_VERSION_MAJOR@
+#define NRN_VERSION_MINOR @NRN_VERSION_MINOR@
+#define NRN_VERSION_PATCH @NRN_VERSION_PATCH@
diff --git a/coreneuron/config/version_macros.hpp b/coreneuron/config/version_macros.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8aa2cab65
--- /dev/null
+++ b/coreneuron/config/version_macros.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+/*
+# =============================================================================
+# Copyright (c) 2022 Blue Brain Project/EPFL
+#
+# See top-level LICENSE file for details.
+# =============================================================================
+*/
+#pragma once
+
+// This is the CoreNEURON analogue of nrnversionmacros.h in NEURON. Hopefully
+// the duplication can go away soon.
+#include "coreneuron/config/neuron_version.hpp"
+#define NRN_VERSION_INT(maj, min, pat)  (10000 * maj + 100 * min + pat)
+#define NRN_VERSION                     NRN_VERSION_INT(NRN_VERSION_MAJOR, NRN_VERSION_MINOR, NRN_VERSION_PATCH)
+#define NRN_VERSION_EQ(maj, min, pat)   (NRN_VERSION == NRN_VERSION_INT(maj, min, pat))
+#define NRN_VERSION_NE(maj, min, pat)   (NRN_VERSION != NRN_VERSION_INT(maj, min, pat))
+#define NRN_VERSION_GT(maj, min, pat)   (NRN_VERSION > NRN_VERSION_INT(maj, min, pat))
+#define NRN_VERSION_LT(maj, min, pat)   (NRN_VERSION < NRN_VERSION_INT(maj, min, pat))
+#define NRN_VERSION_GTEQ(maj, min, pat) (NRN_VERSION >= NRN_VERSION_INT(maj, min, pat))
+#define NRN_VERSION_LTEQ(maj, min, pat) (NRN_VERSION <= NRN_VERSION_INT(maj, min, pat))
+
+// 8.2.0 is significant because all versions >=8.2.0 should contain definitions
+// of these macros, and doing #ifndef NRN_VERSION_GTEQ_8_2_0 is a more
+// descriptive way of writing #if defined(NRN_VERSION_GTEQ). Testing for 8.2.0
+// is likely to be a common pattern when adapting MOD file VERBATIM blocks for
+// C++ compatibility.
+#if NRN_VERSION_GTEQ(8, 2, 0)
+#define NRN_VERSION_GTEQ_8_2_0
+#endif
diff --git a/coreneuron/nrnconf.h b/coreneuron/nrnconf.h
index 1135846ed..b25a2764a 100644
--- a/coreneuron/nrnconf.h
+++ b/coreneuron/nrnconf.h
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 /*
 # =============================================================================
-# Copyright (c) 2016 - 2021 Blue Brain Project/EPFL
+# Copyright (c) 2016 - 2022 Blue Brain Project/EPFL
 #
 # See top-level LICENSE file for details.
 # =============================================================================.
 */
-
 #pragma once
 
+#include "coreneuron/config/version_macros.hpp"
 #include "coreneuron/utils/offload.hpp"
 
 #include <cstdio>
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index 2fc45cb7c..3d6b212fb 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@
 
 include(TestHelpers)
 
-include_directories(${CORENEURON_PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR} ${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+include_directories(${CORENEURON_PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR} ${CORENEURON_PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/generated
+                    ${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS})
 
 if(NOT Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS)
   add_definitions(-DBOOST_TEST_DYN_LINK=TRUE)