diff --git a/src/core/document.js b/src/core/document.js
index 404b046da..3076490dc 100644
--- a/src/core/document.js
+++ b/src/core/document.js
@@ -552,6 +552,7 @@ class PDFDocument {
     this.stream = stream;
     this.xref = new XRef(stream, pdfManager);
     this._pagePromises = [];
+    this._version = null;
 
     const idCounters = {
       font: 0,
@@ -574,9 +575,12 @@ class PDFDocument {
   parse(recoveryMode) {
     this.setup(recoveryMode);
 
-    const version = this.catalog.catDict.get("Version");
-    if (isName(version)) {
-      this.pdfFormatVersion = version.name;
+    // The `checkHeader` method is called before this method and parses the
+    // version from the header. The specification states in section 7.5.2
+    // that the version from the catalog, if present, should overwrite the
+    // version from the header.
+    if (this.catalog.version) {
+      this._version = this.catalog.version;
     }
 
     // Check if AcroForms are present in the document.
@@ -693,9 +697,9 @@ class PDFDocument {
       }
       version += String.fromCharCode(ch);
     }
-    if (!this.pdfFormatVersion) {
+    if (!this._version) {
       // Remove the "%PDF-" prefix.
-      this.pdfFormatVersion = version.substring(5);
+      this._version = version.substring(5);
     }
   }
 
@@ -727,7 +731,7 @@ class PDFDocument {
       Trapped: isName,
     };
 
-    let version = this.pdfFormatVersion;
+    let version = this._version;
     if (
       typeof version !== "string" ||
       !PDF_HEADER_VERSION_REGEXP.test(version)
diff --git a/src/core/obj.js b/src/core/obj.js
index 3eb437fbe..47dcd902b 100644
--- a/src/core/obj.js
+++ b/src/core/obj.js
@@ -76,6 +76,14 @@ class Catalog {
     this.pageKidsCountCache = new RefSetCache();
   }
 
+  get version() {
+    const version = this.catDict.get("Version");
+    if (!isName(version)) {
+      return shadow(this, "version", null);
+    }
+    return shadow(this, "version", version.name);
+  }
+
   get metadata() {
     const streamRef = this.catDict.getRaw("Metadata");
     if (!isRef(streamRef)) {