diff --git a/railties/lib/rails/commands/application.rb b/railties/lib/rails/commands/application.rb
index d7b8ff4439..2ff29418c6 100644
--- a/railties/lib/rails/commands/application.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/rails/commands/application.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 require 'rails/version'
 
 if ['--version', '-v'].include?(ARGV.first)
-  puts "Rails #{Rails.version}"
+  puts "Rails #{Rails::VERSION::STRING}"
   exit(0)
 end
 
diff --git a/railties/lib/rails/generators/app_base.rb b/railties/lib/rails/generators/app_base.rb
index 8b568ff8df..841348f391 100644
--- a/railties/lib/rails/generators/app_base.rb
+++ b/railties/lib/rails/generators/app_base.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 require 'digest/md5'
 require 'securerandom'
 require 'active_support/core_ext/string/strip'
-require 'rails/version' unless defined?(Rails.version)
+require 'rails/version' unless defined?(Rails::VERSION)
 require 'rbconfig'
 require 'open-uri'
 require 'uri'
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ module Rails
         else
           <<-GEMFILE.strip_heredoc
             # Bundle edge Rails instead: gem 'rails', github: 'rails/rails'
-            gem 'rails', '#{Rails.version}'
+            gem 'rails', '#{Rails::VERSION::STRING}'
           GEMFILE
         end
       end
diff --git a/railties/lib/rails/generators/rails/plugin_new/templates/%name%.gemspec b/railties/lib/rails/generators/rails/plugin_new/templates/%name%.gemspec
index 6373ca711e..f7c12e67dd 100644
--- a/railties/lib/rails/generators/rails/plugin_new/templates/%name%.gemspec
+++ b/railties/lib/rails/generators/rails/plugin_new/templates/%name%.gemspec
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.test_files = Dir["test/**/*"]
 <% end -%>
 
-  <%= '# ' if options.dev? || options.edge? -%>s.add_dependency "rails", "~> <%= Rails.version %>"
+  <%= '# ' if options.dev? || options.edge? -%>s.add_dependency "rails", "~> <%= Rails::VERSION::STRING %>"
 <% unless options[:skip_active_record] -%>
 
   s.add_development_dependency "<%= gem_for_database %>"
diff --git a/railties/lib/rails/generators/rails/plugin_new/templates/Gemfile b/railties/lib/rails/generators/rails/plugin_new/templates/Gemfile
index de00ab057d..3f2b78f2fd 100644
--- a/railties/lib/rails/generators/rails/plugin_new/templates/Gemfile
+++ b/railties/lib/rails/generators/rails/plugin_new/templates/Gemfile
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 source "https://rubygems.org"
 
 <% if options[:skip_gemspec] -%>
-<%= '# ' if options.dev? || options.edge? -%>gem "rails", "~> <%= Rails.version %>"
+<%= '# ' if options.dev? || options.edge? -%>gem "rails", "~> <%= Rails::VERSION::STRING %>"
 <% else -%>
 # Declare your gem's dependencies in <%= name %>.gemspec.
 # Bundler will treat runtime dependencies like base dependencies, and