diff --git a/packages/wxt/src/core/zip.ts b/packages/wxt/src/core/zip.ts
index 092d5c27..ceda07ef 100644
--- a/packages/wxt/src/core/zip.ts
+++ b/packages/wxt/src/core/zip.ts
@@ -26,11 +26,10 @@ export async function zip(config?: InlineConfig): Promise<string[]> {
   wxt.logger.info('Zipping extension...');
   const zipFiles: string[] = [];
 
+  const packageJson = await getPackageJson();
   const projectName =
     wxt.config.zip.name ??
-    safeFilename(
-      (await getPackageJson())?.name || path.basename(process.cwd()),
-    );
+    safeFilename(packageJson?.name || path.basename(process.cwd()));
   const applyTemplate = (template: string): string =>
     template
       .replaceAll('{{name}}', projectName)
@@ -39,6 +38,7 @@ export async function zip(config?: InlineConfig): Promise<string[]> {
         '{{version}}',
         output.manifest.version_name ?? output.manifest.version,
       )
+      .replaceAll('{{packageVersion}}', packageJson?.version)
       .replaceAll('{{mode}}', wxt.config.mode)
       .replaceAll('{{manifestVersion}}', `mv${wxt.config.manifestVersion}`);
 
diff --git a/packages/wxt/src/types.ts b/packages/wxt/src/types.ts
index 7d394aa7..b1ef253b 100644
--- a/packages/wxt/src/types.ts
+++ b/packages/wxt/src/types.ts
@@ -147,6 +147,7 @@ export interface InlineConfig {
      *
      * - <span v-pre>`{{name}}`</span> - The project's name converted to kebab-case
      * - <span v-pre>`{{version}}`</span> - The version_name or version from the manifest
+     * - <span v-pre>`{{packageVersion}}`</span> - The version from the package.json
      * - <span v-pre>`{{browser}}`</span> - The target browser from the `--browser` CLI flag
      * - <span v-pre>`{{mode}}`</span> - The current mode
      * - <span v-pre>`{{manifestVersion}}`</span> - Either "2" or "3"
@@ -171,6 +172,7 @@ export interface InlineConfig {
      *
      * - <span v-pre>`{{name}}`</span> - The project's name converted to kebab-case
      * - <span v-pre>`{{version}}`</span> - The version_name or version from the manifest
+     * - <span v-pre>`{{packageVersion}}`</span> - The version from the package.json
      * - <span v-pre>`{{browser}}`</span> - The target browser from the `--browser` CLI flag
      * - <span v-pre>`{{mode}}`</span> - The current mode
      * - <span v-pre>`{{manifestVersion}}`</span> - Either "2" or "3"