diff --git a/docs/libcurl/curl_version_info.3 b/docs/libcurl/curl_version_info.3
index 83becb608..cc14c0e59 100644
--- a/docs/libcurl/curl_version_info.3
+++ b/docs/libcurl/curl_version_info.3
@@ -2,17 +2,23 @@
 .\" nroff -man [file]
 .\" $Id$
 .\"
-.TH curl_version_info 3 "25 Sep 2002" "libcurl 7.10" "libcurl Manual"
+.TH curl_version_info 3 "30 Sep 2002" "libcurl 7.10" "libcurl Manual"
 .SH NAME
 curl_version_info - returns run-time libcurl version info
 .SH SYNOPSIS
 .B #include <curl/curl.h>
 .sp
-.BI "curl_version_info_data *curl_version_info( );"
+.BI "curl_version_info_data *curl_version_info( CURLversion "type ");"
 .ad
 .SH DESCRIPTION
 Returns a pointer to a filled in struct with information about various
-run-time features in libcurl.
+run-time features in libcurl. \fItype\fP should be set to the version of this
+functionality by the time you write your program. This way, libcurl will
+always return a proper struct that your program understands, while programs in
+the future might get an different struct. CURLVERSION_NOW will be the most
+recent one for the library you have installed:
+
+        data = curl_version_info(CURLVERSION_NOW);
 
 Applications should use this information to judge if things are possible to do
 or not, instead of using compile-time checks, as dynamic/DLL libraries can be
@@ -22,6 +28,7 @@ The curl_version_info_data struct looks like this
 
 .nf
 typedef struct {
+  CURLversion age;          /* 0 - this kind of struct */
   const char *version;      /* human readable string */
   unsigned int version_num; /* numeric representation */
   const char *host;         /* human readable string */
@@ -33,6 +40,11 @@ typedef struct {
 } curl_version_info_data;
 .fi
 
+\fIage\fP describes what kind of struct this is. It is always 0 now. In a
+future libcurl, if this struct changes, this age counter may be increased, and
+then the struct for number 1 will look different (except for this first struct
+field).
+
 \fIversion\fP is just an ascii string for the libcurl version.
 
 \fIversion_num\fP is a 6 digit hexadecimal number created like this: <2 digits
diff --git a/include/curl/curl.h b/include/curl/curl.h
index e5ba70379..43534cea5 100644
--- a/include/curl/curl.h
+++ b/include/curl/curl.h
@@ -688,7 +688,8 @@ int curl_formparse(char *, struct curl_httppost **,
 #undef CFINIT
 #endif
 
-#if defined(__STDC__) || defined(_MSC_VER) || defined(__cplusplus)
+#if defined(__STDC__) || defined(_MSC_VER) || defined(__cplusplus) || \
+  defined(__HP_aCC)
 #define CFINIT(name) CURLFORM_ ## name
 #else
 /* The macro "##" is ISO C, we assume pre-ISO C doesn't support it. */
@@ -916,7 +917,20 @@ CURLcode curl_share_destroy (curl_share *);
  * Structures for querying information about the curl library at runtime.
  */
 
+typedef enum {
+  CURLVERSION_FIRST,
+  CURLVERSION_LAST /* never actually use this */
+} CURLversion;
+
+/* The 'CURLVERSION_NOW' is the symbolic name meant to be used by
+   basicly all programs ever, that want to get version information. It is
+   meant to be a built-in version number for what kind of struct the caller
+   expects. If the struct ever changes, we redfine the NOW to another enum
+   from above. */
+#define CURLVERSION_NOW CURLVERSION_FIRST
+
 typedef struct {
+  CURLversion age;          /* age of the returned struct */
   const char *version;      /* LIBCURL_VERSION */
   unsigned int version_num; /* LIBCURL_VERSION_NUM */
   const char *host;         /* OS/host/cpu/machine when configured */
@@ -925,7 +939,7 @@ typedef struct {
   long ssl_version_num;     /* number */
   const char *libz_version;       /* human readable string */
   /* protocols is terminated by an entry with a NULL protoname */
-  const char *protocols[1];
+  const char **protocols;
 } curl_version_info_data;
 
 #define CURL_VERSION_IPV6      (1<<0)
@@ -934,7 +948,7 @@ typedef struct {
 #define CURL_VERSION_LIBZ      (1<<3)
 
 /* returns a pointer to a static copy of the version info struct */
-curl_version_info_data *curl_version_info(void);
+curl_version_info_data *curl_version_info(CURLversion);
 
 #ifdef  __cplusplus
 }
diff --git a/lib/version.c b/lib/version.c
index 33cea4619..41a71bfcc 100644
--- a/lib/version.c
+++ b/lib/version.c
@@ -122,39 +122,40 @@ char *curl_version(void)
 
 static const char *protocols[] = {
 #ifndef CURL_DISABLE_FTP
-  { "ftp" },
+  "ftp",
 #endif
 #ifndef CURL_DISABLE_GOPHER
-  { "gopher" },
+  "gopher",
 #endif
 #ifndef CURL_DISABLE_TELNET
-  { "telnet" },
+  "telnet",
 #endif
 #ifndef CURL_DISABLE_DICT
-  { "dict" },
+  "dict",
 #endif
 #ifndef CURL_DISABLE_LDAP
-  { "ldap" },
+  "ldap",
 #endif
 #ifndef CURL_DISABLE_HTTP
-  { "http" },
+  "http",
 #endif
 #ifndef CURL_DISABLE_FILE
-  { "file" },
+  "file",
 #endif
 
 #ifdef USE_SSLEAY
 #ifndef CURL_DISABLE_HTTP
-  { "https" },
+  "https",
 #endif
 #ifndef CURL_DISABLE_FTP
-  { "ftps" },
+  "ftps",
 #endif
 #endif
-  { NULL }
+  NULL
 };
 
 static curl_version_info_data version_info = {
+  CURLVERSION_FIRST,
   LIBCURL_VERSION,
   LIBCURL_VERSION_NUM,
   OS, /* as found by configure or set by hand at build-time */
@@ -178,7 +179,7 @@ static curl_version_info_data version_info = {
   protocols
 };
 
-curl_version_info_data *curl_version_info(void)
+curl_version_info_data *curl_version_info(CURLversion stamp)
 {
 #ifdef USE_SSLEAY
   static char ssl_buffer[80];
@@ -194,6 +195,7 @@ curl_version_info_data *curl_version_info(void)
   version_info.libz_version = zlibVersion();
   /* libz left NULL if non-existing */
 #endif
+  (void)stamp; /* avoid compiler warnings, we don't use this */
 
   return &version_info;
 }