diff --git a/cmd/promtool/main.go b/cmd/promtool/main.go
index 6e5dbf029..2af10249c 100644
--- a/cmd/promtool/main.go
+++ b/cmd/promtool/main.go
@@ -232,7 +232,6 @@ func updateRules(t cli.Term, filename string) error {
 	}
 
 	yamlRG := &rulefmt.RuleGroups{
-		Version: 1,
 		Groups: []rulefmt.RuleGroup{{
 			Name: filename,
 		}},
diff --git a/pkg/rulefmt/rulefmt.go b/pkg/rulefmt/rulefmt.go
index 81a5962c0..bc08bc031 100644
--- a/pkg/rulefmt/rulefmt.go
+++ b/pkg/rulefmt/rulefmt.go
@@ -37,8 +37,7 @@ func (err *Error) Error() string {
 
 // RuleGroups is a set of rule groups that are typically exposed in a file.
 type RuleGroups struct {
-	Version int         `yaml:"version"`
-	Groups  []RuleGroup `yaml:"groups"`
+	Groups []RuleGroup `yaml:"groups"`
 
 	// Catches all undefined fields and must be empty after parsing.
 	XXX map[string]interface{} `yaml:",inline"`
@@ -46,9 +45,6 @@ type RuleGroups struct {
 
 // Validate validates all rules in the rule groups.
 func (g *RuleGroups) Validate() (errs []error) {
-	if g.Version != 1 {
-		errs = append(errs, errors.Errorf("invalid rule group version %d", g.Version))
-	}
 	set := map[string]struct{}{}
 
 	for _, g := range g.Groups {
diff --git a/pkg/rulefmt/rulefmt_test.go b/pkg/rulefmt/rulefmt_test.go
index 95d088f18..358a98377 100644
--- a/pkg/rulefmt/rulefmt_test.go
+++ b/pkg/rulefmt/rulefmt_test.go
@@ -37,10 +37,6 @@ func TestParseFileFailure(t *testing.T) {
 			filename: "duplicate_grp.bad.yaml",
 			errMsg:   "groupname: \"yolo\" is repeated in the same file",
 		},
-		{
-			filename: "noversion.bad.yaml",
-			errMsg:   "invalid rule group version 0",
-		},
 		{
 			filename: "bad_expr.bad.yaml",
 			errMsg:   "parse error",
diff --git a/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/bad_annotation.bad.yaml b/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/bad_annotation.bad.yaml
index 6d1863765..b59c41a63 100644
--- a/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/bad_annotation.bad.yaml
+++ b/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/bad_annotation.bad.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-version: 1
 groups:
   - name: yolo
     rules:
diff --git a/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/bad_expr.bad.yaml b/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/bad_expr.bad.yaml
index 4fe1a6a0d..f9a029ccf 100644
--- a/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/bad_expr.bad.yaml
+++ b/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/bad_expr.bad.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-version: 1
 groups:
 - name: yolo
   rules:
diff --git a/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/bad_lname.bad.yaml b/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/bad_lname.bad.yaml
index 2de03beeb..7153f3ba5 100644
--- a/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/bad_lname.bad.yaml
+++ b/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/bad_lname.bad.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-version: 1
 groups:
   - name: yolo
     rules:
diff --git a/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/duplicate_grp.bad.yaml b/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/duplicate_grp.bad.yaml
index 9eb14c263..97d453429 100644
--- a/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/duplicate_grp.bad.yaml
+++ b/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/duplicate_grp.bad.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-version: 1
 groups:
 - name: yolo
 - name: yolo
diff --git a/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/no_rec_alert.bad.yaml b/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/no_rec_alert.bad.yaml
index cd1fdf02f..64d2e8f20 100644
--- a/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/no_rec_alert.bad.yaml
+++ b/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/no_rec_alert.bad.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-version: 1
 groups:
   - name: yolo
     rules:
diff --git a/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/noexpr.bad.yaml b/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/noexpr.bad.yaml
index 6e7155064..ad0c29e4c 100644
--- a/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/noexpr.bad.yaml
+++ b/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/noexpr.bad.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-version: 1
 groups:
   - name: yolo
     rules:
diff --git a/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/noversion.bad.yaml b/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/noversion.bad.yaml
deleted file mode 100644
index ba7c2cd05..000000000
--- a/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/noversion.bad.yaml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-groups:
-- name: yolo
diff --git a/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/record_and_alert.bad.yaml b/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/record_and_alert.bad.yaml
index 0cb0b48a2..0ba81b742 100644
--- a/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/record_and_alert.bad.yaml
+++ b/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/record_and_alert.bad.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-version: 1
 groups:
 - name: yolo
   rules:
diff --git a/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/test.yaml b/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/test.yaml
index d7cf526b7..a3127426d 100644
--- a/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/test.yaml
+++ b/pkg/rulefmt/testdata/test.yaml
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-version: 1
 groups:
 - name: my-group-name
   interval: 30s   # defaults to global interval