diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 146c95a478f..ef9a0278c97 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -599,6 +599,11 @@ endif
 
 versiondep = declare_dependency(sources: version_h)
 
+shared_lib_tag = get_option('shared-lib-tag')
+if shared_lib_tag == ''
+        shared_lib_tag = meson.project_version()
+endif
+
 sh = find_program('sh')
 echo = find_program('echo')
 sed = find_program('sed')
@@ -3902,6 +3907,7 @@ summary({
         'D-Bus system directory' :          dbussystemservicedir,
         'bash completions directory' :      bashcompletiondir,
         'zsh completions directory' :       zshcompletiondir,
+        'private shared lib version tag' :  shared_lib_tag,
         'extra start script' :              get_option('rc-local'),
         'debug shell' :                     '@0@ @ @1@'.format(get_option('debug-shell'),
                                                                get_option('debug-tty')),
diff --git a/meson_options.txt b/meson_options.txt
index 401f0933d73..23691fb4986 100644
--- a/meson_options.txt
+++ b/meson_options.txt
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 
 option('version-tag', type : 'string',
        description : 'override the git version string')
+option('shared-lib-tag', type : 'string',
+       description : 'override the private shared library version tag (defaults to project version)')
 
 option('mode', type : 'combo', choices : ['developer', 'release'],
        description : 'autoenable features suitable for systemd development/release builds')
diff --git a/src/core/meson.build b/src/core/meson.build
index 87456712131..fd15a7fbefd 100644
--- a/src/core/meson.build
+++ b/src/core/meson.build
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ load_fragment_gperf_nulstr_c = custom_target(
         command : [awk, '-f', '@INPUT0@', '@INPUT1@'],
         capture : true)
 
-libcore_name = 'systemd-core-@0@'.format(meson.project_version())
+libcore_name = 'systemd-core-@0@'.format(shared_lib_tag)
 
 libcore = shared_library(
         libcore_name,
diff --git a/src/shared/meson.build b/src/shared/meson.build
index c2e02339746..f58d623f4a1 100644
--- a/src/shared/meson.build
+++ b/src/shared/meson.build
@@ -430,7 +430,7 @@ target2 = custom_target(
 shared_generated_gperf_headers = [target1, target2]
 shared_sources += shared_generated_gperf_headers
 
-libshared_name = 'systemd-shared-@0@'.format(meson.project_version())
+libshared_name = 'systemd-shared-@0@'.format(shared_lib_tag)
 
 libshared_deps = [threads,
                   libacl,