diff --git a/heat/engine/cfn/template.py b/heat/engine/cfn/template.py
index a1a641a33..66ef73488 100644
--- a/heat/engine/cfn/template.py
+++ b/heat/engine/cfn/template.py
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ class CfnTemplate(template.Template):
 
     SECTIONS_NO_DIRECT_ACCESS = set([PARAMETERS, VERSION])
 
+    def __init__(self, template, *args, **kwargs):
+        super(CfnTemplate, self).__init__(template, *args, **kwargs)
+        self.version = self._version()
+
     def __getitem__(self, section):
         '''Get the relevant section in the template.'''
         if section not in self.SECTIONS:
@@ -42,7 +46,7 @@ class CfnTemplate(template.Template):
 
         return self.t.get(section, default)
 
-    def version(self):
+    def _version(self):
         for key in ('HeatTemplateFormatVersion', 'AWSTemplateFormatVersion'):
             if key in self.t:
                 return key, self.t[key]
@@ -64,4 +68,4 @@ class CfnTemplate(template.Template):
                                      context=context)
 
     def functions(self):
-        return functions.function_mapping(*self.version())
+        return functions.function_mapping(*self.version)
diff --git a/heat/engine/hot/__init__.py b/heat/engine/hot/__init__.py
index 76d553283..a6ea5f8d2 100644
--- a/heat/engine/hot/__init__.py
+++ b/heat/engine/hot/__init__.py
@@ -58,7 +58,10 @@ class HOTemplate(template.Template):
                             cfn_template.CfnTemplate.OUTPUTS: OUTPUTS}
 
     def __init__(self, template, *args, **kwargs):
-        version = template[self.VERSION]
+        # All user templates are forced to include a version string. This is
+        # just a convenient default for unit tests.
+        version = template.get(self.VERSION, '2013-05-23')
+
         if version not in self.VERSIONS:
             msg = _('"%(version)s" is not a valid '
                     'heat_template_version. Should be one of: '
@@ -67,6 +70,7 @@ class HOTemplate(template.Template):
                                     'valid': str(self.VERSIONS)})
 
         super(HOTemplate, self).__init__(template, *args, **kwargs)
+        self.version = self.VERSION, version
 
     def __getitem__(self, section):
         """"Get the relevant section in the template."""
@@ -146,14 +150,6 @@ class HOTemplate(template.Template):
 
         return cfn_outputs
 
-    def version(self):
-        if self.VERSION in self.t:
-            return self.VERSION, self.t[self.VERSION]
-
-        # All user templates are forced to include a version string. This is
-        # just a convenient default for unit tests.
-        return self.VERSION, '2013-05-23'
-
     def param_schemata(self):
         params = self.t.get(self.PARAMETERS, {}).iteritems()
         return dict((name, HOTParamSchema.from_dict(schema))
@@ -166,7 +162,7 @@ class HOTemplate(template.Template):
 
     def functions(self):
         from heat.engine.hot import functions
-        return functions.function_mapping(*self.version())
+        return functions.function_mapping(*self.version)
 
 
 class HOTParamSchema(parameters.Schema):
diff --git a/heat/engine/template.py b/heat/engine/template.py
index e530a7246..677e33f01 100644
--- a/heat/engine/template.py
+++ b/heat/engine/template.py
@@ -72,11 +72,6 @@ class Template(collections.Mapping):
         '''Return the number of sections.'''
         return len(self.SECTIONS) - len(self.SECTIONS_NO_DIRECT_ACCESS)
 
-    @abc.abstractmethod
-    def version(self):
-        '''Return a (versionkey, version) tuple for the template.'''
-        pass
-
     @abc.abstractmethod
     def param_schemata(self):
         '''Return a dict of parameters.Schema objects for the parameters.'''
diff --git a/heat/tests/test_hot.py b/heat/tests/test_hot.py
index 777b19f77..21b4bb202 100644
--- a/heat/tests/test_hot.py
+++ b/heat/tests/test_hot.py
@@ -311,8 +311,8 @@ class HOTemplateTest(HeatTestCase):
         tmpl_str = "heat_template_version: 2013-05-23"
         hot_tmpl = template_format.parse(tmpl_str)
         parsed_tmpl = template.Template(hot_tmpl)
-        expected = '2013-05-23'
-        observed = parsed_tmpl.version()[1]
+        expected = ('heat_template_version', '2013-05-23')
+        observed = parsed_tmpl.version
         self.assertEqual(expected, observed)
 
 
diff --git a/heat/tests/test_parser.py b/heat/tests/test_parser.py
index 77b5edffb..3e3f595a1 100644
--- a/heat/tests/test_parser.py
+++ b/heat/tests/test_parser.py
@@ -169,12 +169,12 @@ class TemplateTest(HeatTestCase):
     def test_aws_version(self):
         tmpl = parser.Template(mapping_template)
         self.assertEqual(('AWSTemplateFormatVersion', '2010-09-09'),
-                         tmpl.version())
+                         tmpl.version)
 
     def test_heat_version(self):
         tmpl = parser.Template(resource_template)
         self.assertEqual(('HeatTemplateFormatVersion', '2012-12-12'),
-                         tmpl.version())
+                         tmpl.version)
 
     def test_invalid_template(self):
         scanner_error = '''