diff --git a/src/main/java/net/kemitix/gitdb/FormatVersion.java b/src/main/java/net/kemitix/gitdb/FormatVersion.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7a66ac7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/net/kemitix/gitdb/FormatVersion.java
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+/*
+  The MIT License (MIT)
+
+  Copyright (c) 2018 Paul Campbell
+
+  Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software
+  and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction,
+  including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense,
+  and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so,
+  subject to the following conditions:
+
+  The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies
+  or substantial portions of the Software.
+
+  THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
+  INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
+  AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM,
+  DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+  OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
+ */
+
+package net.kemitix.gitdb;
+
+import com.github.zafarkhaja.semver.Version;
+
+import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
+
+/**
+ * Defines the version of the GitDB repository format.
+ *
+ * @author Paul Campbell (pcampbell@kemitix.net)
+ */
+public final class FormatVersion {
+
+    private final int major = 1;
+    private final int minor = 0;
+    private final int patch = 0;
+
+    /**
+     * Formats the version as a UTF 8 byte array.
+     *
+     * @return a bytes array
+     */
+    public byte[] toBytes() {
+        return getVersion().toString().getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8);
+    }
+
+    public Version getVersion() {
+        return Version.forIntegers(major, minor, patch);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/net/kemitix/gitdb/GitDB.java b/src/main/java/net/kemitix/gitdb/GitDB.java
index 06c58e7..c458467 100644
--- a/src/main/java/net/kemitix/gitdb/GitDB.java
+++ b/src/main/java/net/kemitix/gitdb/GitDB.java
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@
 
 package net.kemitix.gitdb;
 
-import com.github.zafarkhaja.semver.Version;
 import net.kemitix.gitdb.impl.LocalGitDB;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
@@ -35,12 +34,6 @@ import java.util.Optional;
  */
 public interface GitDB {
 
-    int MAJOR = 1;
-    int MINOR = 0;
-    int PATCH = 0;
-
-    Version VERSION = Version.forIntegers(MAJOR, MINOR, PATCH);
-
     /**
      * Initialise a new local gitdb.
      *
diff --git a/src/main/java/net/kemitix/gitdb/impl/InitGitDBRepo.java b/src/main/java/net/kemitix/gitdb/impl/InitGitDBRepo.java
index d0c18e9..a2bd757 100644
--- a/src/main/java/net/kemitix/gitdb/impl/InitGitDBRepo.java
+++ b/src/main/java/net/kemitix/gitdb/impl/InitGitDBRepo.java
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 
 package net.kemitix.gitdb.impl;
 
-import net.kemitix.gitdb.GitDB;
+import net.kemitix.gitdb.FormatVersion;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.ObjectId;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Repository;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.RepositoryCache;
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ class InitGitDBRepo {
     private void createInitialBranchOnMaster(final Repository repository) throws IOException {
         final GitDBRepo repo = new GitDBRepo(repository);
         final ValueWriter valueWriter = new ValueWriter(repository);
-        final ObjectId objectId = valueWriter.write(GitDB.VERSION.toString().getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
+        final ObjectId objectId = valueWriter.write(new FormatVersion().toBytes());
         final ObjectId treeId = repo.insertNewTree(GIT_DB_VERSION, objectId);
         final ObjectId commitId = repo.initialCommit(treeId, INIT_MESSAGE, INIT_USER, INIT_EMAIL);
         createBranch(repository, commitId, MASTER);
diff --git a/src/test/java/net/kemitix/gitdb/test/GitDBTest.java b/src/test/java/net/kemitix/gitdb/test/GitDBTest.java
index 01a9f3d..c2736b7 100644
--- a/src/test/java/net/kemitix/gitdb/test/GitDBTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/net/kemitix/gitdb/test/GitDBTest.java
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package net.kemitix.gitdb.test;
 
 import com.github.zafarkhaja.semver.Version;
+import net.kemitix.gitdb.FormatVersion;
 import net.kemitix.gitdb.GitDB;
 import net.kemitix.gitdb.GitDBBranch;
 import net.kemitix.gitdb.InvalidRepositoryException;
@@ -8,7 +9,6 @@ import org.assertj.core.api.WithAssertions;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.api.Git;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.api.errors.GitAPIException;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Constants;
-import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.ObjectId;
 import org.eclipse.jgit.lib.Repository;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.ExtendWith;
@@ -244,8 +244,9 @@ class GitDBTest implements WithAssertions {
         //when
         final Optional<Version> formatVersion = gitDBBranch.getFormatVersion();
         //then
-        assertThat(formatVersion).contains(GitDB.VERSION);
-        assertThat(formatVersion.get()).isNotSameAs(GitDB.VERSION);
+        final Version version = new FormatVersion().getVersion();
+        assertThat(formatVersion).contains(version);
+        assertThat(formatVersion.get()).isNotSameAs(version);
     }
 
     // When putting a key/value pair then a GitDbBranch is returned