diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/LegacyESVersion.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/LegacyESVersion.java
index ab1b4400906..3ba2195d4e6 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/LegacyESVersion.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/LegacyESVersion.java
@@ -288,4 +288,29 @@ public class LegacyESVersion extends Version {
     protected int maskId(final int id) {
         return id;
     }
+    
+    @Override
+    public String toString() {
+        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
+        sb.append(major).append('.').append(minor).append('.').append(revision);
+        if (isAlpha()) {
+            sb.append("-alpha");
+            sb.append(build);
+        } else if (isBeta()) {
+            if (major >= 2) {
+                sb.append("-beta");
+            } else {
+                sb.append(".Beta");
+            }
+            sb.append(major < 5 ? build : build-25);
+        } else if (build < 99) {
+            if (major >= 2) {
+                sb.append("-rc");
+            } else {
+                sb.append(".RC");
+            }
+            sb.append(build - 50);
+        }
+        return sb.toString();
+    }
 }
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/Version.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/Version.java
index 999c39cabbc..c640f3863e2 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/Version.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/Version.java
@@ -177,19 +177,35 @@ public class Version implements Comparable<Version>, ToXContentFragment {
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("illegal version format - snapshot labels are not supported");
         }
         String[] parts = version.split("[.-]");
-        // todo: add back optional build number
-        if (parts.length != 3) {
-            throw new IllegalArgumentException("the version needs to contain major, minor, and revision: " + version);
+        if (parts.length < 3 || parts.length > 4) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+                "the version needs to contain major, minor, and revision, and optionally the build: " + version);
         }
 
         try {
             final int rawMajor = Integer.parseInt(parts[0]);
-
+            final int betaOffset = 25; // 0 - 24 is taking by alpha builds
+            
             //we reverse the version id calculation based on some assumption as we can't reliably reverse the modulo
             final int major = rawMajor * 1000000;
             final int minor = Integer.parseInt(parts[1]) * 10000;
             final int revision = Integer.parseInt(parts[2]) * 100;
             int build = 99;
+            if (parts.length == 4) {
+                String buildStr = parts[3];
+                if (buildStr.startsWith("alpha")) {
+                    build = Integer.parseInt(buildStr.substring(5));
+                    assert build < 25 : "expected a alpha build but " + build + " >= 25";
+                } else if (buildStr.startsWith("Beta") || buildStr.startsWith("beta")) {
+                    build = betaOffset + Integer.parseInt(buildStr.substring(4));
+                    assert build < 50 : "expected a beta build but " + build + " >= 50";
+                } else if (buildStr.startsWith("RC") || buildStr.startsWith("rc")) {
+                    build = Integer.parseInt(buildStr.substring(2)) + 50;
+                } else {
+                    throw new IllegalArgumentException("unable to parse version " + version);
+                }
+            }
+            
             return fromId((major + minor + revision + build) ^ MASK);
         } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("unable to parse version " + version, e);
@@ -398,18 +414,10 @@ public class Version implements Comparable<Version>, ToXContentFragment {
             sb.append("-alpha");
             sb.append(build);
         } else if (isBeta()) {
-            if (major >= 2) {
-                sb.append("-beta");
-            } else {
-                sb.append(".Beta");
-            }
-            sb.append(major < 5 ? build : build-25);
+            sb.append("-beta");
+            sb.append(build - 25);
         } else if (build < 99) {
-            if (major >= 2) {
-                sb.append("-rc");
-            } else {
-                sb.append(".RC");
-            }
+            sb.append("-rc");
             sb.append(build - 50);
         }
         return sb.toString();
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/VersionTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/VersionTests.java
index 6d8f774fa3f..14ba2fa2d73 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/VersionTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/VersionTests.java
@@ -265,12 +265,36 @@ public class VersionTests extends OpenSearchTestCase {
         assertEquals("5.0.0-alpha1", LegacyESVersion.fromString("5.0.0-alpha1").toString());
     }
 
+    public void testIsRc() {
+        assertTrue(LegacyESVersion.fromString("2.0.0-rc1").isRC());
+        assertTrue(LegacyESVersion.fromString("1.0.0.RC1").isRC());
+        assertTrue(Version.fromString("1.0.0-rc1").isRC());
+        assertTrue(Version.fromString("2.0.0.RC1").isRC());
+
+        for (int i = 0 ; i < 25; i++) {
+            assertEquals(LegacyESVersion.fromString("5.0.0-rc" + i).id, LegacyESVersion.fromId(5000000 + i + 50).id);
+            assertEquals("5.0.0-rc" + i, LegacyESVersion.fromId(5000000 + i + 50).toString());
+            
+            assertEquals(Version.fromString("1.0.0-rc" + i).id, Version.fromId(135217728 + i + 50).id);
+            assertEquals("1.0.0-rc" + i, Version.fromId(135217728 + i + 50).toString());
+        }
+    }
+    
     public void testIsBeta() {
         assertTrue(LegacyESVersion.fromString("2.0.0-beta1").isBeta());
         assertTrue(LegacyESVersion.fromString("1.0.0.Beta1").isBeta());
         assertTrue(LegacyESVersion.fromString("0.90.0.Beta1").isBeta());
-    }
+        assertTrue(Version.fromString("1.0.0.Beta1").isBeta());
+        assertTrue(Version.fromString("2.0.0.beta1").isBeta());
 
+        for (int i = 0 ; i < 25; i++) {
+            assertEquals(LegacyESVersion.fromString("5.0.0-beta" + i).id, LegacyESVersion.fromId(5000000 + i + 25).id);
+            assertEquals("5.0.0-beta" + i, LegacyESVersion.fromId(5000000 + i + 25).toString());
+            
+            assertEquals(Version.fromString("1.0.0-beta" + i).id, Version.fromId(135217728 + i + 25).id);
+            assertEquals("1.0.0-beta" + i, Version.fromId(135217728 + i + 25).toString());
+        }
+    }
 
     public void testIsAlpha() {
         assertTrue(new LegacyESVersion(5000001, org.apache.lucene.util.Version.LUCENE_7_0_0).isAlpha());
@@ -279,15 +303,16 @@ public class VersionTests extends OpenSearchTestCase {
         assertTrue(LegacyESVersion.fromString("5.0.0-alpha14").isAlpha());
         assertEquals(5000014, LegacyESVersion.fromString("5.0.0-alpha14").id);
         assertTrue(LegacyESVersion.fromId(5000015).isAlpha());
+        
+        assertEquals(135217742, Version.fromString("1.0.0-alpha14").id);
+        assertTrue(Version.fromString("1.0.0-alpha14").isAlpha());
 
         for (int i = 0 ; i < 25; i++) {
             assertEquals(LegacyESVersion.fromString("5.0.0-alpha" + i).id, LegacyESVersion.fromId(5000000 + i).id);
             assertEquals("5.0.0-alpha" + i, LegacyESVersion.fromId(5000000 + i).toString());
-        }
-
-        for (int i = 0 ; i < 25; i++) {
-            assertEquals(LegacyESVersion.fromString("5.0.0-beta" + i).id, LegacyESVersion.fromId(5000000 + i + 25).id);
-            assertEquals("5.0.0-beta" + i, LegacyESVersion.fromId(5000000 + i + 25).toString());
+            
+            assertEquals(Version.fromString("1.0.0-alpha" + i).id, Version.fromId(135217728 + i).id);
+            assertEquals("1.0.0-alpha" + i, Version.fromId(135217728 + i).toString());
         }
     }