diff --git a/.chronus/changes/fix_package_version-2024-6-12-15-20-17.md b/.chronus/changes/fix_package_version-2024-6-12-15-20-17.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..952479f21b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.chronus/changes/fix_package_version-2024-6-12-15-20-17.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+changeKind: fix
+packages:
+  - "@azure-tools/typespec-python"
+---
+
+always interpret `package-version` as a string
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/typespec-python/generator/pygen/codegen/__init__.py b/packages/typespec-python/generator/pygen/codegen/__init__.py
index ea4716f86e..11d829263c 100644
--- a/packages/typespec-python/generator/pygen/codegen/__init__.py
+++ b/packages/typespec-python/generator/pygen/codegen/__init__.py
@@ -164,6 +164,10 @@ def packaging_files_config(self) -> Optional[Dict[str, Any]]:
         except AttributeError:
             return packaging_files_config
 
+    @property
+    def package_version(self) -> Optional[str]:
+        return str(self.options.get("package-version", ""))
+
 
 class CodeGenerator(Plugin):
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs: Any) -> None: