diff --git a/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/DBEntry.pm b/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/DBEntry.pm
index 7de0ffdbf4a90c5835d2cf6159fa04e308a87d2d..939ad7eac44a08e5e99b8fef75da08a6aefe24dd 100644
--- a/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/DBEntry.pm
+++ b/modules/Bio/EnsEMBL/DBEntry.pm
@@ -282,6 +282,24 @@ sub version {
   return $self->{version};
 }
 
+=head2 db_version
+
+  Arg [1]    : (optional) String $arg - value to set
+  Example    : none
+  Description: Alias for release(). The release/version of the external DB
+  Returntype : String
+  Exceptions : none
+  Caller     : general
+  Status     : Stable
+
+=cut
+
+sub db_version {
+  my ( $self, $arg ) = @_;
+  return $self->release($arg);
+}
+
+
 
 =head2 description
 
diff --git a/modules/t/dbEntries.t b/modules/t/dbEntries.t
index 3adf57f43daacb5818e9f04dad2f6dfb1b1ed925..fd1a996fc02ca3a8cecd8b886f5f3a8de1b8db4b 100644
--- a/modules/t/dbEntries.t
+++ b/modules/t/dbEntries.t
@@ -300,6 +300,11 @@ $xref->primary_id('2');
 $dbEntryAdaptor->update($xref);
 my $updated_xref = $dbEntryAdaptor->fetch_by_db_accession('Vega_gene', '2');
 is($updated_xref->description(), 'new_description', 'Xref with updated description');
+is($updated_xref->db_version, '1','DBEntry release/version can be accessed');
+is($updated_xref->release, '1','DBEntry release/version can be accessed by both methods');
+
+$updated_xref->release(2);
+is($updated_xref->release, '2','DBEntry release can be changed');
 
 #
 # 12-14 Test that external synonyms and go evidence tags are retrieved