diff --git a/go/flags/endtoend/mysqlctl.txt b/go/flags/endtoend/mysqlctl.txt
index cd2758007e2..6041bdd538e 100644
--- a/go/flags/endtoend/mysqlctl.txt
+++ b/go/flags/endtoend/mysqlctl.txt
@@ -110,8 +110,8 @@ Global flags:
       --stderrthreshold severity                                         logs at or above this threshold go to stderr (default 1)
       --tablet_dir string                                                The directory within the vtdataroot to store vttablet/mysql files. Defaults to being generated by the tablet uid.
       --tablet_uid uint                                                  Tablet UID (default 41983)
-  -v, --v Level                                                          log level for V logs
-      --version                                                          print binary version
+      --v Level                                                          log level for V logs
+  -v, --version                                                          print binary version
       --vmodule moduleSpec                                               comma-separated list of pattern=N settings for file-filtered logging
       --xbstream_restore_flags string                                    flags to pass to xbstream command during restore. These should be space separated and will be added to the end of the command. These need to match the ones used for backup e.g. --compress / --decompress, --encrypt / --decrypt
       --xtrabackup_backup_flags string                                   flags to pass to backup command. These should be space separated and will be added to the end of the command
diff --git a/go/flags/endtoend/mysqlctld.txt b/go/flags/endtoend/mysqlctld.txt
index 6ac669ed9c9..9776c39bbd6 100644
--- a/go/flags/endtoend/mysqlctld.txt
+++ b/go/flags/endtoend/mysqlctld.txt
@@ -98,8 +98,8 @@ Usage of mysqlctld:
       --stderrthreshold severity                                         logs at or above this threshold go to stderr (default 1)
       --tablet_dir string                                                The directory within the vtdataroot to store vttablet/mysql files. Defaults to being generated by the tablet uid.
       --tablet_uid uint                                                  Tablet UID (default 41983)
-  -v, --v Level                                                          log level for V logs
-      --version                                                          print binary version
+      --v Level                                                          log level for V logs
+  -v, --version                                                          print binary version
       --vmodule moduleSpec                                               comma-separated list of pattern=N settings for file-filtered logging
       --wait_time duration                                               How long to wait for mysqld startup or shutdown (default 5m0s)
       --xbstream_restore_flags string                                    flags to pass to xbstream command during restore. These should be space separated and will be added to the end of the command. These need to match the ones used for backup e.g. --compress / --decompress, --encrypt / --decrypt
diff --git a/go/flags/endtoend/vtaclcheck.txt b/go/flags/endtoend/vtaclcheck.txt
index 4b158925437..6e2c57db109 100644
--- a/go/flags/endtoend/vtaclcheck.txt
+++ b/go/flags/endtoend/vtaclcheck.txt
@@ -14,6 +14,6 @@ Usage of vtaclcheck:
       --security_policy string           the name of a registered security policy to use for controlling access to URLs - empty means allow all for anyone (built-in policies: deny-all, read-only)
       --static-auth-file string          The path of the auth_server_static JSON file to check
       --stderrthreshold severity         logs at or above this threshold go to stderr (default 1)
-  -v, --v Level                          log level for V logs
-      --version                          print binary version
+      --v Level                          log level for V logs
+  -v, --version                          print binary version
       --vmodule moduleSpec               comma-separated list of pattern=N settings for file-filtered logging
diff --git a/go/flags/endtoend/vtbackup.txt b/go/flags/endtoend/vtbackup.txt
index 98f145904fa..7023fd7355f 100644
--- a/go/flags/endtoend/vtbackup.txt
+++ b/go/flags/endtoend/vtbackup.txt
@@ -157,8 +157,8 @@ Usage of vtbackup:
       --topo_zk_tls_ca string                           the server ca to use to validate servers when connecting to the zk topo server
       --topo_zk_tls_cert string                         the cert to use to connect to the zk topo server, requires topo_zk_tls_key, enables TLS
       --topo_zk_tls_key string                          the key to use to connect to the zk topo server, enables TLS
-  -v, --v Level                                         log level for V logs
-      --version                                         print binary version
+      --v Level                                         log level for V logs
+  -v, --version                                         print binary version
       --vmodule moduleSpec                              comma-separated list of pattern=N settings for file-filtered logging
       --xbstream_restore_flags string                   flags to pass to xbstream command during restore. These should be space separated and will be added to the end of the command. These need to match the ones used for backup e.g. --compress / --decompress, --encrypt / --decrypt
       --xtrabackup_backup_flags string                  flags to pass to backup command. These should be space separated and will be added to the end of the command
diff --git a/go/flags/endtoend/vtctlclient.txt b/go/flags/endtoend/vtctlclient.txt
index 8896b7b3f72..207f31905f2 100644
--- a/go/flags/endtoend/vtctlclient.txt
+++ b/go/flags/endtoend/vtctlclient.txt
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@ Usage of vtctlclient:
       --tracing-enable-logging                 whether to enable logging in the tracing service
       --tracing-sampling-rate float            sampling rate for the probabilistic jaeger sampler (default 0.1)
       --tracing-sampling-type string           sampling strategy to use for jaeger. possible values are 'const', 'probabilistic', 'rateLimiting', or 'remote' (default "const")
-  -v, --v Level                                log level for V logs
-      --version                                print binary version
+      --v Level                                log level for V logs
+  -v, --version                                print binary version
       --vmodule moduleSpec                     comma-separated list of pattern=N settings for file-filtered logging
       --vtctl_client_protocol string           Protocol to use to talk to the vtctl server. (default "grpc")
       --vtctld_grpc_ca string                  the server ca to use to validate servers when connecting
diff --git a/go/flags/endtoend/vtctld.txt b/go/flags/endtoend/vtctld.txt
index 5895327dc5f..cf4559b445a 100644
--- a/go/flags/endtoend/vtctld.txt
+++ b/go/flags/endtoend/vtctld.txt
@@ -151,8 +151,8 @@ Usage of vtctld:
       --tracing-enable-logging                                           whether to enable logging in the tracing service
       --tracing-sampling-rate float                                      sampling rate for the probabilistic jaeger sampler (default 0.1)
       --tracing-sampling-type string                                     sampling strategy to use for jaeger. possible values are 'const', 'probabilistic', 'rateLimiting', or 'remote' (default "const")
-  -v, --v Level                                                          log level for V logs
-      --version                                                          print binary version
+      --v Level                                                          log level for V logs
+  -v, --version                                                          print binary version
       --vmodule moduleSpec                                               comma-separated list of pattern=N settings for file-filtered logging
       --vtctl_healthcheck_retry_delay duration                           delay before retrying a failed healthcheck (default 5s)
       --vtctl_healthcheck_timeout duration                               the health check timeout period (default 1m0s)
diff --git a/go/flags/endtoend/vtexplain.txt b/go/flags/endtoend/vtexplain.txt
index df5fea9d1d6..50b7c741c49 100644
--- a/go/flags/endtoend/vtexplain.txt
+++ b/go/flags/endtoend/vtexplain.txt
@@ -79,8 +79,8 @@ Usage of vtexplain:
       --topo_global_root string                      the path of the global topology data in the global topology server
       --topo_global_server_address string            the address of the global topology server
       --topo_implementation string                   the topology implementation to use
-  -v, --v Level                                      log level for V logs
-      --version                                      print binary version
+      --v Level                                      log level for V logs
+  -v, --version                                      print binary version
       --vmodule moduleSpec                           comma-separated list of pattern=N settings for file-filtered logging
       --vschema string                               Identifies the VTGate routing schema
       --vschema-file string                          Identifies the VTGate routing schema file
diff --git a/go/flags/endtoend/vtgate.txt b/go/flags/endtoend/vtgate.txt
index f6add89785e..11b6dabcb26 100644
--- a/go/flags/endtoend/vtgate.txt
+++ b/go/flags/endtoend/vtgate.txt
@@ -184,8 +184,8 @@ Usage of vtgate:
       --tracing-sampling-rate float                                      sampling rate for the probabilistic jaeger sampler (default 0.1)
       --tracing-sampling-type string                                     sampling strategy to use for jaeger. possible values are 'const', 'probabilistic', 'rateLimiting', or 'remote' (default "const")
       --transaction_mode string                                          SINGLE: disallow multi-db transactions, MULTI: allow multi-db transactions with best effort commit, TWOPC: allow multi-db transactions with 2pc commit (default "MULTI")
-  -v, --v Level                                                          log level for V logs
-      --version                                                          print binary version
+      --v Level                                                          log level for V logs
+  -v, --version                                                          print binary version
       --vmodule moduleSpec                                               comma-separated list of pattern=N settings for file-filtered logging
       --vschema_ddl_authorized_users string                              List of users authorized to execute vschema ddl operations, or '%' to allow all users.
       --vtctld_addr string                                               address of a vtctld instance
diff --git a/go/flags/endtoend/vtgr.txt b/go/flags/endtoend/vtgr.txt
index d4ed0501d9e..f110e4638b2 100644
--- a/go/flags/endtoend/vtgr.txt
+++ b/go/flags/endtoend/vtgr.txt
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ Usage of vtgr:
       --topo_zk_tls_ca string                      the server ca to use to validate servers when connecting to the zk topo server
       --topo_zk_tls_cert string                    the cert to use to connect to the zk topo server, requires topo_zk_tls_key, enables TLS
       --topo_zk_tls_key string                     the key to use to connect to the zk topo server, enables TLS
-  -v, --v Level                                    log level for V logs
-      --version                                    print binary version
+      --v Level                                    log level for V logs
+  -v, --version                                    print binary version
       --vmodule moduleSpec                         comma-separated list of pattern=N settings for file-filtered logging
       --vtgr_config string                         Config file for vtgr.
diff --git a/go/flags/endtoend/vtorc.txt b/go/flags/endtoend/vtorc.txt
index e8270b9f5e7..35a7dea2eb0 100644
--- a/go/flags/endtoend/vtorc.txt
+++ b/go/flags/endtoend/vtorc.txt
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ Usage of vtorc:
       --topo_zk_tls_ca string                        the server ca to use to validate servers when connecting to the zk topo server
       --topo_zk_tls_cert string                      the cert to use to connect to the zk topo server, requires topo_zk_tls_key, enables TLS
       --topo_zk_tls_key string                       the key to use to connect to the zk topo server, enables TLS
-  -v, --v Level                                      log level for V logs
-      --version                                      print binary version
+      --v Level                                      log level for V logs
+  -v, --version                                      print binary version
       --vmodule moduleSpec                           comma-separated list of pattern=N settings for file-filtered logging
       --wait-replicas-timeout duration               Duration for which to wait for replica's to respond when issuing RPCs (default 30s)
diff --git a/go/flags/endtoend/vttablet.txt b/go/flags/endtoend/vttablet.txt
index 9340e5a0c01..5e71075963f 100644
--- a/go/flags/endtoend/vttablet.txt
+++ b/go/flags/endtoend/vttablet.txt
@@ -343,8 +343,8 @@ Usage of vttablet:
       --tx_throttler_healthcheck_cells strings                           A comma-separated list of cells. Only tabletservers running in these cells will be monitored for replication lag by the transaction throttler.
       --unhealthy_threshold duration                                     replication lag after which a replica is considered unhealthy (default 2h0m0s)
       --use_super_read_only                                              Set super_read_only flag when performing planned failover.
-  -v, --v Level                                                          log level for V logs
-      --version                                                          print binary version
+      --v Level                                                          log level for V logs
+  -v, --version                                                          print binary version
       --vmodule moduleSpec                                               comma-separated list of pattern=N settings for file-filtered logging
       --vreplication_copy_phase_duration duration                        Duration for each copy phase loop (before running the next catchup: default 1h) (default 1h0m0s)
       --vreplication_copy_phase_max_innodb_history_list_length int       The maximum InnoDB transaction history that can exist on a vstreamer (source) before starting another round of copying rows. This helps to limit the impact on the source tablet. (default 1000000)
diff --git a/go/flags/endtoend/vttestserver.txt b/go/flags/endtoend/vttestserver.txt
index 384ebd7fe06..7445878bf2a 100644
--- a/go/flags/endtoend/vttestserver.txt
+++ b/go/flags/endtoend/vttestserver.txt
@@ -119,8 +119,8 @@ Usage of vttestserver:
       --topo_zk_tls_cert string                                          the cert to use to connect to the zk topo server, requires topo_zk_tls_key, enables TLS
       --topo_zk_tls_key string                                           the key to use to connect to the zk topo server, enables TLS
       --transaction_mode string                                          Transaction mode MULTI (default), SINGLE or TWOPC  (default "MULTI")
-  -v, --v Level                                                          log level for V logs
-      --version                                                          print binary version
+      --v Level                                                          log level for V logs
+  -v, --version                                                          print binary version
       --vmodule moduleSpec                                               comma-separated list of pattern=N settings for file-filtered logging
       --vschema_ddl_authorized_users string                              Comma separated list of users authorized to execute vschema ddl operations via vtgate
       --vtctl_client_protocol string                                     Protocol to use to talk to the vtctl server. (default "grpc")
diff --git a/go/flags/endtoend/zkctl.txt b/go/flags/endtoend/zkctl.txt
index e07334f86ac..e7e41c4cb4d 100644
--- a/go/flags/endtoend/zkctl.txt
+++ b/go/flags/endtoend/zkctl.txt
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@ Usage of zkctl:
       --pprof strings                    enable profiling
       --purge_logs_interval duration     how often try to remove old logs (default 1h0m0s)
       --stderrthreshold severity         logs at or above this threshold go to stderr (default 1)
-  -v, --v Level                          log level for V logs
-      --version                          print binary version
+      --v Level                          log level for V logs
+  -v, --version                          print binary version
       --vmodule moduleSpec               comma-separated list of pattern=N settings for file-filtered logging
       --zk.cfg string                    zkid@server1:leaderPort1:electionPort1:clientPort1,...) (default "6@<hostname>:3801:3802:3803")
       --zk.myid uint                     which server do you want to be? only needed when running multiple instance on one box, otherwise myid is implied by hostname
diff --git a/go/flags/endtoend/zkctld.txt b/go/flags/endtoend/zkctld.txt
index 9bfec0066f7..6ec026be814 100644
--- a/go/flags/endtoend/zkctld.txt
+++ b/go/flags/endtoend/zkctld.txt
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ Usage of zkctld:
       --purge_logs_interval duration     how often try to remove old logs (default 1h0m0s)
       --security_policy string           the name of a registered security policy to use for controlling access to URLs - empty means allow all for anyone (built-in policies: deny-all, read-only)
       --stderrthreshold severity         logs at or above this threshold go to stderr (default 1)
-  -v, --v Level                          log level for V logs
-      --version                          print binary version
+      --v Level                          log level for V logs
+  -v, --version                          print binary version
       --vmodule moduleSpec               comma-separated list of pattern=N settings for file-filtered logging
       --zk.cfg string                    zkid@server1:leaderPort1:electionPort1:clientPort1,...) (default "6@<hostname>:3801:3802:3803")
       --zk.myid uint                     which server do you want to be? only needed when running multiple instance on one box, otherwise myid is implied by hostname
diff --git a/go/internal/flag/flag.go b/go/internal/flag/flag.go
index a06f1c63988..2c99e22017f 100644
--- a/go/internal/flag/flag.go
+++ b/go/internal/flag/flag.go
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ import (
 //
 // See VEP-4, phase 1 for details: https://github.com/vitessio/enhancements/blob/c766ea905e55409cddeb666d6073cd2ac4c9783e/veps/vep-4.md#phase-1-preparation
 func Parse(fs *flag.FlagSet) {
+	preventGlogVFlagFromClobberingVersionFlagShorthand(fs)
 	fs.AddGoFlagSet(goflag.CommandLine)
 
 	if fs.Lookup("help") == nil {
@@ -96,6 +97,32 @@ func TrickGlog() {
 	os.Args = append(os.Args, args...)
 }
 
+// The default behavior of PFlagFromGoFlag (which is called on each flag when
+// calling AddGoFlagSet) is to allow any flags with single-character names to be
+// accessible both as, for example, `-v` and `--v`.
+//
+// This prevents us from exposing version via `--version|-v` (pflag will actually
+// panic when it goes to add the glog log-level flag), so we intervene to blank
+// out the Shorthand for _just_ that flag before adding the rest of the goflags
+// to a particular pflag FlagSet.
+//
+// IMPORTANT: This must be called prior to AddGoFlagSet in both Parse and
+// ParseFlagsForTest.
+func preventGlogVFlagFromClobberingVersionFlagShorthand(fs *flag.FlagSet) {
+	// N.B. we use goflag.Lookup instead of this package's Lookup, because we
+	// explicitly want to check only the goflags.
+	if f := goflag.Lookup("v"); f != nil {
+		if fs.Lookup("v") != nil { // This check is exactly what AddGoFlagSet does.
+			return
+		}
+
+		pf := flag.PFlagFromGoFlag(f)
+		pf.Shorthand = ""
+
+		fs.AddFlag(pf)
+	}
+}
+
 // Usage invokes the current CommandLine's Usage func, or if not overridden,
 // "prints a simple header and calls PrintDefaults".
 func Usage() {
@@ -135,6 +162,7 @@ func ParseFlagsForTest() {
 	}
 
 	// parse remaining flags including the log-related ones like --alsologtostderr
+	preventGlogVFlagFromClobberingVersionFlagShorthand(flag.CommandLine)
 	flag.CommandLine.AddGoFlagSet(goflag.CommandLine)
 	flag.Parse()
 }
diff --git a/go/vt/servenv/buildinfo.go b/go/vt/servenv/buildinfo.go
index c03c85009ed..d00b4f063ff 100644
--- a/go/vt/servenv/buildinfo.go
+++ b/go/vt/servenv/buildinfo.go
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ var (
 )
 
 func registerVersionFlag(fs *pflag.FlagSet) {
-	fs.BoolVar(&version, "version", version, "print binary version")
+	fs.BoolVarP(&version, "version", "v", version, "print binary version")
 }
 
 // AppVersion is the struct to store build info.