diff --git a/0001-Relax-version-validation.patch b/0001-Relax-version-validation.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..299c13a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/0001-Relax-version-validation.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,81 @@
+From 3abc0e781f69872c199f8078fd9ec165650be8b3 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
+From: =?UTF-8?q?Lubom=C3=ADr=20Sedl=C3=A1=C5=99?= <lsedlar@redhat.com>
+Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2016 13:18:12 +0100
+Subject: [PATCH] Relax version validation
+
+Check the format only if version starts with a digit. This allows having
+non-numeric versions such as Rawhide.
+
+Fixes #11
+---
+ doc/terminology.rst       |  6 ++++++
+ productmd/composeinfo.py  |  6 +++++-
+ tests/test_composeinfo.py | 10 +++++++++-
+ 3 files changed, 20 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
+
+diff --git a/doc/terminology.rst b/doc/terminology.rst
+index 785693b..a98f1da 100644
+--- a/doc/terminology.rst
++++ b/doc/terminology.rst
+@@ -108,6 +108,12 @@ Recommended schema is dot separated numbers:
+ * **X.Y.Z** -- bugfix version / hotfix version
+ 
+ 
++.. note ::
++    It is technically possible to use arbitrary string as a version, but this
++    is highly discouraged as it does not allow sorting. If you need it, just
++    start your version with any non-digit character.
++
++
+ .. _Milestones:
+ 
+ ==========
+diff --git a/productmd/composeinfo.py b/productmd/composeinfo.py
+index bb6c757..aece4a0 100644
+--- a/productmd/composeinfo.py
++++ b/productmd/composeinfo.py
+@@ -374,8 +374,12 @@ class BaseProduct(productmd.common.MetadataBase):
+         self._assert_type("name", list(six.string_types))
+ 
+     def _validate_version(self):
++        """If the version starts with a digit, it must be a sematic-versioning
++        style string.
++        """
+         self._assert_type("version", list(six.string_types))
+-        self._assert_matches_re("version", [r"^\d+(\.\d+)*$"])
++        if re.match('^\d', self.version):
++            self._assert_matches_re("version", [r"^\d+(\.\d+)*$"])
+ 
+     def _validate_short(self):
+         self._assert_type("short", list(six.string_types))
+diff --git a/tests/test_composeinfo.py b/tests/test_composeinfo.py
+index e24984d..79cad82 100755
+--- a/tests/test_composeinfo.py
++++ b/tests/test_composeinfo.py
+@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ import shutil
+ DIR = os.path.dirname(__file__)
+ sys.path.insert(0, os.path.join(DIR, ".."))
+ 
+-from productmd.composeinfo import ComposeInfo, Variant
++from productmd.composeinfo import ComposeInfo, Variant, Release
+ 
+ 
+ class TestComposeInfo(unittest.TestCase):
+@@ -117,6 +117,14 @@ class TestComposeInfo(unittest.TestCase):
+         ci.compose.label = "GA"
+         self.assertRaises(ValueError, ci.dump, self.ci_path)
+ 
++    def test_release_non_numeric_version(self):
++        r = Release(None)
++        r.name = "Fedora"
++        r.short = "f"
++        r.version = "Rawhide"
++
++        r.validate()
++
+ 
+ if __name__ == "__main__":
+     unittest.main()
+-- 
+2.5.0
+
diff --git a/python-productmd.spec b/python-productmd.spec
index 8016439..565a222 100644
--- a/python-productmd.spec
+++ b/python-productmd.spec
@@ -15,13 +15,14 @@
 
 Name:           python-productmd
 Version:        1.0
-Release:        10%{?dist}
+Release:        11%{?dist}
 Summary:        Library providing parsers for metadata related to OS installation
 
 Group:          Development/Tools
 License:        LGPLv2+
 URL:            https://github.com/release-engineering/productmd
 Source0:        productmd-%{version}.tar.gz
+Patch0:         0001-Relax-version-validation.patch
 
 Obsoletes:     productmd <= %{version}-%{release}
 Provides:      productmd = %{version}-%{release}
@@ -54,6 +55,8 @@ and installation media.
 
 %prep
 %setup -qc -n productmd-%{version}
+%patch0 -p1
+
 mv productmd-%{version} python2
 
 cp -a python2 python3
@@ -109,6 +112,9 @@ popd
 %endif
 
 %changelog
+* Thu Feb 18 2016 Dennis Gilmore <dennis@ausil.us> - 1.0-11
+- add patch to allow us to use rawhide as the version
+
 * Thu Feb 04 2016 Fedora Release Engineering <releng@fedoraproject.org> - 1.0-10
 - Rebuilt for https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora_24_Mass_Rebuild