diff --git a/openlp.pyw b/openlp.pyw
index 96871ad79..f9c92dc44 100755
--- a/openlp.pyw
+++ b/openlp.pyw
@@ -71,7 +71,6 @@ class OpenLP(QtGui.QApplication):
     The core application class. This class inherits from Qt's QApplication
     class in order to provide the core of the application.
     """
-    app_version = None
 
     def run(self):
         """
@@ -103,8 +102,7 @@ class OpenLP(QtGui.QApplication):
         # make sure Qt really display the splash screen
         self.processEvents()
         # start the main app window
-        self.mainWindow = MainWindow(screens, self.app_version,
-            self.clipboard())
+        self.mainWindow = MainWindow(screens, self.clipboard())
         self.mainWindow.show()
         if show_splash:
             # now kill the splashscreen
@@ -116,7 +114,7 @@ class OpenLP(QtGui.QApplication):
         update_check = QtCore.QSettings().value(
             u'general/update check', QtCore.QVariant(True)).toBool()
         if update_check:
-            VersionThread(self.mainWindow, self.app_version).start()
+            VersionThread(self.mainWindow).start()
         return self.exec_()
 
     def hookException(self, exctype, value, traceback):
@@ -194,7 +192,7 @@ def main():
     app.setOrganizationName(u'OpenLP')
     app.setOrganizationDomain(u'openlp.org')
     app.setApplicationName(u'OpenLP')
-    app.setApplicationVersion(app.get_version()[u'version'])
+    app.setApplicationVersion(get_application_version()[u'version'])
     # First time checks in settings
     if not QtCore.QSettings().value(u'general/has run wizard',
         QtCore.QVariant(False)).toBool():
diff --git a/openlp/core/ui/aboutform.py b/openlp/core/ui/aboutform.py
index 5c26167e3..4112cfd8f 100644
--- a/openlp/core/ui/aboutform.py
+++ b/openlp/core/ui/aboutform.py
@@ -28,25 +28,26 @@ from PyQt4 import QtCore, QtGui
 
 from aboutdialog import Ui_AboutDialog
 from openlp.core.lib import translate
+from openlp.core.utils import get_application_version
 
 class AboutForm(QtGui.QDialog, Ui_AboutDialog):
     """
     The About dialog
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, parent, applicationVersion):
+    def __init__(self, parent):
         """
         Do some initialisation stuff
         """
         QtGui.QDialog.__init__(self, parent)
-        self.applicationVersion = applicationVersion
+        applicationVersion = get_application_version()
         self.setupUi(self)
         about_text = self.aboutTextEdit.toPlainText()
         about_text = about_text.replace(u'<version>',
-            self.applicationVersion[u'version'])
-        if self.applicationVersion[u'build']:
+            applicationVersion[u'version'])
+        if applicationVersion[u'build']:
             build_text = unicode(translate('OpenLP.AboutForm', ' build %s')) % \
-                self.applicationVersion[u'build']
+                applicationVersion[u'build']
         else:
             build_text = u''
         about_text = about_text.replace(u'<revision>', build_text)
diff --git a/openlp/core/ui/mainwindow.py b/openlp/core/ui/mainwindow.py
index e421edd98..b8dfc35f5 100644
--- a/openlp/core/ui/mainwindow.py
+++ b/openlp/core/ui/mainwindow.py
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ from openlp.core.ui import AboutForm, SettingsForm, ServiceManager, \
     ThemeManager, SlideController, PluginForm, MediaDockManager, \
     ShortcutListForm, DisplayTagForm
 from openlp.core.utils import AppLocation, add_actions, LanguageManager, \
-    ActionList
+    ActionList, get_application_version
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -469,14 +469,13 @@ class MainWindow(QtGui.QMainWindow, Ui_MainWindow):
 
     actionList = ActionList()
 
-    def __init__(self, screens, applicationVersion, clipboard):
+    def __init__(self, screens, clipboard):
         """
         This constructor sets up the interface, the various managers, and the
         plugins.
         """
         QtGui.QMainWindow.__init__(self)
         self.screens = screens
-        self.applicationVersion = applicationVersion
         self.clipboard = clipboard
         # Set up settings sections for the main application
         # (not for use by plugins)
@@ -487,7 +486,7 @@ class MainWindow(QtGui.QMainWindow, Ui_MainWindow):
         self.serviceNotSaved = False
         self.actionList = ActionList()
         self.settingsmanager = SettingsManager(screens)
-        self.aboutForm = AboutForm(self, applicationVersion)
+        self.aboutForm = AboutForm(self)
         self.settingsForm = SettingsForm(self.screens, self, self)
         self.displayTagForm = DisplayTagForm(self)
         self.shortcutForm = ShortcutListForm(self)
@@ -651,7 +650,7 @@ class MainWindow(QtGui.QMainWindow, Ui_MainWindow):
             'version from http://openlp.org/.'))
         QtGui.QMessageBox.question(self,
             translate('OpenLP.MainWindow', 'OpenLP Version Updated'),
-            version_text % (version, self.applicationVersion[u'full']))
+            version_text % (version, get_application_version()[u'full']))
 
     def show(self):
         """
@@ -734,7 +733,6 @@ class MainWindow(QtGui.QMainWindow, Ui_MainWindow):
         """
         Show the About form
         """
-        self.aboutForm.applicationVersion = self.applicationVersion
         self.aboutForm.exec_()
 
     def onPluginItemClicked(self):
diff --git a/openlp/core/utils/__init__.py b/openlp/core/utils/__init__.py
index 22c56e7c1..3c639297e 100644
--- a/openlp/core/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/openlp/core/utils/__init__.py
@@ -48,19 +48,18 @@ import openlp
 from openlp.core.lib import Receiver, translate, check_directory_exists
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+APPLICATION_VERSION = {}
 IMAGES_FILTER = None
 UNO_CONNECTION_TYPE = u'pipe'
 #UNO_CONNECTION_TYPE = u'socket'
-APPLICATION_VERSION = u''
 
 class VersionThread(QtCore.QThread):
     """
     A special Qt thread class to fetch the version of OpenLP from the website.
     This is threaded so that it doesn't affect the loading time of OpenLP.
     """
-    def __init__(self, parent, app_version):
+    def __init__(self, parent):
         QtCore.QThread.__init__(self, parent)
-        self.app_version = app_version
         self.version_splitter = re.compile(
             r'([0-9]+).([0-9]+).([0-9]+)(?:-bzr([0-9]+))?')
 
@@ -70,7 +69,8 @@ class VersionThread(QtCore.QThread):
         """
         time.sleep(1)
         Receiver.send_message(u'maindisplay_blank_check')
-        version = check_latest_version(self.app_version)
+        app_version = get_application_version()
+        version = check_latest_version(app_version)
         remote_version = {}
         local_version = {}
         match = self.version_splitter.match(version)
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ class VersionThread(QtCore.QThread):
                 remote_version[u'revision'] = int(match.group(4))
         else:
             return
-        match = self.version_splitter.match(self.app_version[u'full'])
+        match = self.version_splitter.match(app_version[u'full'])
         if match:
             local_version[u'major'] = int(match.group(1))
             local_version[u'minor'] = int(match.group(2))
@@ -208,22 +208,16 @@ def _get_frozen_path(frozen_option, non_frozen_option):
         return frozen_option
     return non_frozen_option
 
-def get_application_version(dev_version=False):
+def get_application_version():
     """
     Returns the application version of the running instance of OpenLP::
 
         {u'full': u'1.9.4-bzr1249', u'version': u'1.9.4', u'build': u'bzr1249'}
-
-    ``dev_version``
-        If ``True``, then it is assumed, that we are running a dev version and
-        attempt to receive the version number using bzr. **Note**, that this
-        argument is only important the first time the function is called.
     """
     global APPLICATION_VERSION
     if APPLICATION_VERSION:
-        # We already know the version, so just return it.
         return APPLICATION_VERSION
-    if dev_version:
+    if u'--dev-version' in sys.argv or u'-d' in sys.argv:
         # If we're running the dev version, let's use bzr to get the version.
         try:
             # If bzrlib is available, use it.