diff --git a/hw/arm/sbsa-ref.c b/hw/arm/sbsa-ref.c
index dac8860f2d..4bb444684f 100644
--- a/hw/arm/sbsa-ref.c
+++ b/hw/arm/sbsa-ref.c
@@ -192,6 +192,20 @@ static void create_fdt(SBSAMachineState *sms)
     qemu_fdt_setprop_cell(fdt, "/", "#address-cells", 0x2);
     qemu_fdt_setprop_cell(fdt, "/", "#size-cells", 0x2);
 
+    /*
+     * This versioning scheme is for informing platform fw only. It is neither:
+     * - A QEMU versioned machine type; a given version of QEMU will emulate
+     *   a given version of the platform.
+     * - A reflection of level of SBSA (now SystemReady SR) support provided.
+     *
+     * machine-version-major: updated when changes breaking fw compatibility
+     *                        are introduced.
+     * machine-version-minor: updated when features are added that don't break
+     *                        fw compatibility.
+     */
+    qemu_fdt_setprop_cell(fdt, "/", "machine-version-major", 0);
+    qemu_fdt_setprop_cell(fdt, "/", "machine-version-minor", 0);
+
     if (ms->numa_state->have_numa_distance) {
         int size = nb_numa_nodes * nb_numa_nodes * 3 * sizeof(uint32_t);
         uint32_t *matrix = g_malloc0(size);