diff --git a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/SparkSQLCLIDriver.scala b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/SparkSQLCLIDriver.scala
index 2c18f242eb48d..f8ba0f2681018 100644
--- a/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/SparkSQLCLIDriver.scala
+++ b/sql/hive-thriftserver/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/thriftserver/SparkSQLCLIDriver.scala
@@ -147,6 +147,9 @@ private[hive] object SparkSQLCLIDriver {
       case e: UnsupportedEncodingException => System.exit(3)
     }
 
+    // TODO: SET commands seem to be using the wrong session?
+    sessionState.getConf.set("spark.sql.hive.version", HiveShim.version)
+
     if (sessionState.database != null) {
       SparkSQLEnv.hiveContext.runSqlHive(s"USE ${sessionState.database}")
     }
diff --git a/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/client/ClientWrapper.scala b/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/client/ClientWrapper.scala
index d884a3dd8c831..a82ba5ee3dccd 100644
--- a/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/client/ClientWrapper.scala
+++ b/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/client/ClientWrapper.scala
@@ -118,6 +118,7 @@ class ClientWrapper(
   /** Returns the configuration for the current session. */
   def conf: HiveConf = SessionState.get().getConf
 
+  // TODO: should be a def?s
   private val client = Hive.get(conf)
 
   /**