diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/pathname+yeast.rb b/Library/Homebrew/pathname+yeast.rb
index 894c26e4be..30f2a254c3 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/pathname+yeast.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/pathname+yeast.rb
@@ -87,6 +87,13 @@ class Pathname
   end
 
   def version
+    if directory?
+      # directories don't have extnames
+      stem=basename.to_s
+    else
+      stem=self.stem
+    end
+
     # github tarballs are special
     # we only support numbered tagged downloads
     %r[github.com/.*/tarball/((\d\.)+\d)$].match to_s
diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/unittest.rb b/Library/Homebrew/unittest.rb
index 22e36847a6..adbfd4afb7 100755
--- a/Library/Homebrew/unittest.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/unittest.rb
@@ -294,4 +294,10 @@ class BeerTasting <Test::Unit::TestCase
     assert_equal 1, ARGV.kegs.length
     assert_raises(FormulaUnavailableError) { ARGV.formulae }
   end
+  
+  def test_version_dir
+    d=HOMEBREW_CELLAR+'foo-0.1.9'
+    d.mkpath
+    assert_equal '0.1.9', d.version
+  end
 end