diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 4280ba742..85ecd9028 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ set(PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIRS ${PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIRS} CACHE INTERNAL "")
 set(PYTHON_LIBRARIES ${PYTHON_LIBRARIES} CACHE INTERNAL "")
 set(PYTHON_MODULE_PREFIX ${PYTHON_MODULE_PREFIX} CACHE INTERNAL "")
 set(PYTHON_MODULE_EXTENSION ${PYTHON_MODULE_EXTENSION} CACHE INTERNAL "")
+set(PYTHON_VERSION_MAJOR ${PYTHON_VERSION_MAJOR} CACHE INTERNAL "")
+set(PYTHON_VERSION_MINOR ${PYTHON_VERSION_MINOR} CACHE INTERNAL "")
 
 # NB: when adding a header don't forget to also add it to setup.py
 set(PYBIND11_HEADERS