diff --git a/xbps-src/shutils/tmpl_funcs.sh.in b/xbps-src/shutils/tmpl_funcs.sh.in
index 72291949b5..d7ee91025d 100644
--- a/xbps-src/shutils/tmpl_funcs.sh.in
+++ b/xbps-src/shutils/tmpl_funcs.sh.in
@@ -188,6 +188,33 @@ check_rundep_dup()
 	done
 }
 
+dependency_version()
+{
+	local type="$1" pkgn="$2"
+
+	if [ -f $XBPS_SRCPKGDIR/${pkgn}/${pkgn}.depends ]; then
+		. $XBPS_SRCPKGDIR/${pkgn}/${pkgn}.depends
+	elif [ -f $XBPS_SRCPKGDIR/${pkgn}/depends ]; then
+		. $XBPS_SRCPKGDIR/${pkgn}/depends
+	fi
+
+	if [ "$type" = "build" ]; then
+		if [ -z "$api_depends" ]; then
+			echo "${pkgn}>=0"
+		else
+			echo "${pkgn}${api_depends}"
+		fi
+	elif [ "$type" = "run" ]; then
+		if [ -z "$abi_depends" ]; then
+			echo "${pkgn}>=0"
+		else
+			echo "${pkgn}${abi_depends}"
+		fi
+	fi
+
+	unset abi_depends api_depends
+}
+
 Add_dependency()
 {
 	local type="$1" pkgn="$2" ver="$3"