diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 066f07d..6babe5a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+### Fixed
+
+- `dx -v` now prints the CLI version, matching the documented lowercase version flag. Version checks are also skipped for help/version output and global-option-only invocations, preventing update prompts from interfering with those commands.
+
 ## 0.5.5 - 2026-07-13
 
 ### Updated
diff --git a/src/cli.test.ts b/src/cli.test.ts
index 8433d11..ae564d8 100644
--- a/src/cli.test.ts
+++ b/src/cli.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 
+import cliPackage from "../package.json" with { type: "json" };
+
 const originalEnv = { ...process.env };
 
 beforeEach(() => {
@@ -42,10 +44,47 @@ describe("cli", () => {
 
     const output = stdout.join("");
     expect(output).toContain("Usage: dx [options] [command]");
+    expect(output).toContain("-v, --version");
+    expect(output).not.toContain("-V, --version");
     expect(stderr.join("")).toBe("");
     expect(exitSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
+  it("shows the current version with the lowercase version flag", async () => {
+    const stdout: string[] = [];
+    const stderr: string[] = [];
+
+    vi.spyOn(process.stdout, "write").mockImplementation(((
+      chunk: string | Uint8Array,
+    ) => {
+      stdout.push(String(chunk));
+      return true;
+    }) as typeof process.stdout.write);
+
+    vi.spyOn(process.stderr, "write").mockImplementation(((
+      chunk: string | Uint8Array,
+    ) => {
+      stderr.push(String(chunk));
+      return true;
+    }) as typeof process.stderr.write);
+
+    const exitSpy = vi.spyOn(process, "exit").mockImplementation(((
+      code?: string | number | null,
+    ) => {
+      throw new Error(`process.exit unexpectedly called with ${code}`);
+    }) as typeof process.exit);
+
+    const { run } = await import("./cli.js");
+
+    await expect(run(["node", "dx", "-v"])).rejects.toThrow(
+      "process.exit unexpectedly called with 0",
+    );
+
+    expect(stdout.join("")).toBe(`${cliPackage.version}\n`);
+    expect(stderr.join("")).toBe("");
+    expect(exitSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(0);
+  });
+
   it("shows command usage when a command group is invoked without a subcommand", async () => {
     const stdout: string[] = [];
     const stderr: string[] = [];
diff --git a/src/cli.ts b/src/cli.ts
index b3abdb7..dc611dc 100644
--- a/src/cli.ts
+++ b/src/cli.ts
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ function createProgram(): Command {
   program
     .name("dx")
     .description("DX CLI")
-    .version(cliPackage.version)
+    .version(cliPackage.version, "-v, --version")
     .addOption(new Option("--json", "Print machine-readable JSON"))
     .addOption(
       new Option("--agent <name>", "Agent name to send as an HTTP header"),
diff --git a/src/versionCheck.test.ts b/src/versionCheck.test.ts
index 39b785e..a1e7327 100644
--- a/src/versionCheck.test.ts
+++ b/src/versionCheck.test.ts
@@ -192,6 +192,18 @@ describe("checkForNewVersion", () => {
     expect(mockBuildRuntimeSafe).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 
+  it.each([
+    ["short version flag", ["node", "dx", "-v"]],
+    ["long version flag", ["node", "dx", "--version"]],
+    ["top-level help flag", ["node", "dx", "--help"]],
+    ["subcommand help flag", ["node", "dx", "scorecards", "--help"]],
+    ["global option without a command", ["node", "dx", "--json"]],
+  ])("returns 'disabled' for %s", async (_label, argv) => {
+    const result = await checkForNewVersion(argv);
+    expect(result).toEqual({ status: "disabled" });
+    expect(mockBuildRuntimeSafe).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
   it("returns 'disabled' when user is not logged in", async () => {
     mockBuildRuntimeSafe.mockResolvedValue(null);
     const result = await checkForNewVersion(scorecardsList);
@@ -279,6 +291,9 @@ describe("promptVersionUpdate", () => {
 
     const result = await promptVersionUpdate("0.4.0");
     expect(result).toEqual({ shouldUpdate: true, latestVersion: "0.4.0" });
+    expect(mockSelect).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.any(Object), {
+      output: process.stderr,
+    });
 
     Object.defineProperty(process.stdin, "isTTY", {
       value: undefined,
diff --git a/src/versionCheck.ts b/src/versionCheck.ts
index 5e89f96..b158d38 100644
--- a/src/versionCheck.ts
+++ b/src/versionCheck.ts
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ const VERSION_CHECK_INTERVAL_HOURS = 24;
 const SNOOZE_DAYS = 7;
 
 const SKIP_COMMANDS = new Set(["auth", "init"]);
+const SKIP_OPTIONS = new Set(["-h", "--help", "-v", "--version"]);
 
 export interface VersionCheckResult {
   shouldUpdate: boolean;
@@ -111,7 +112,16 @@ export async function checkForNewVersion(
     return { status: "disabled" };
   }
 
-  const topLevelCommand = argv.slice(2).find((arg) => !arg.startsWith("-"));
+  const args = argv.slice(2);
+  if (args.some((arg) => SKIP_OPTIONS.has(arg))) {
+    return { status: "disabled" };
+  }
+
+  const topLevelCommand = args.find((arg) => !arg.startsWith("-"));
+  if (!topLevelCommand) {
+    return { status: "disabled" };
+  }
+
   if (topLevelCommand && SKIP_COMMANDS.has(topLevelCommand)) {
     return { status: "disabled" };
   }
@@ -198,14 +208,19 @@ export async function promptVersionUpdate(
     ],
     { useStderr: true },
   );
-  const choice = await select({
-    message: "What would you like to do?",
-    choices: [
-      { name: "Update now", value: "update" },
-      { name: `Remind me later (in ${SNOOZE_DAYS} days)`, value: "snooze" },
-      { name: "Skip this version", value: "skip" },
-    ],
-  });
+  const choice = await select(
+    {
+      message: "What would you like to do?",
+      choices: [
+        { name: "Update now", value: "update" },
+        { name: `Remind me later (in ${SNOOZE_DAYS} days)`, value: "snooze" },
+        { name: "Skip this version", value: "skip" },
+      ],
+    },
+    {
+      output: process.stderr,
+    },
+  );
 
   if (choice === "update") {
     persistVersionPromptSelection(undefined);