diff --git a/src/ps.rs b/src/ps.rs
index ef66092..a328822 100644
--- a/src/ps.rs
+++ b/src/ps.rs
@@ -593,10 +593,12 @@ fn do_create_snapshot(
             }
         }
 
+        // Historically, these three fields were always first, and we have test cases that depend on
+        // "v=" being the very first field.
         for r in &mut records {
             r.prepend_s("host", print_params.hostname.to_string());
             r.prepend_s("time", print_params.timestamp.to_string());
-            r.prepend_s("version", print_params.version.to_string());
+            r.prepend_s("v", print_params.version.to_string());
         }
 
         for v in records {
@@ -606,7 +608,7 @@ fn do_create_snapshot(
         let mut datum = output::Object::new();
         datum.push_s("host", print_params.hostname.to_string());
         datum.push_s("time", print_params.timestamp.to_string());
-        datum.push_s("version", print_params.version.to_string());
+        datum.push_s("v", print_params.version.to_string());
         if print_params.opts.load {
             if !per_cpu_secs.is_empty() {
                 let a = output::Array::from_vec(