diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c42645bd..6e272994 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [![Python package](https://github.com/ResearchObject/ro-crate-py/workflows/Python%20package/badge.svg)](https://github.com/ResearchObject/ro-crate-py/actions?query=workflow%3A%22Python+package%22) [![Upload Python Package](https://github.com/ResearchObject/ro-crate-py/workflows/Upload%20Python%20Package/badge.svg)](https://github.com/ResearchObject/ro-crate-py/actions?query=workflow%3A%22Upload+Python+Package%22) [![PyPI version](https://badge.fury.io/py/rocrate.svg)](https://pypi.org/project/rocrate/) [![DOI](https://zenodo.org/badge/216605684.svg)](https://zenodo.org/badge/latestdoi/216605684)
 
-ro-crate-py is a Python library to create and consume [Research Object Crates](https://w3id.org/ro/crate). It currently supports the [RO-Crate 1.1](https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.1) specification.
+ro-crate-py is a Python library to create and consume [Research Object Crates](https://w3id.org/ro/crate). It supports the current [RO-Crate 1.2](https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.2) specification as well as the older [RO-Crate 1.1](https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.1) and [RO-Crate 1.0](https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.0).
 
 ## Installation
 
@@ -225,6 +225,25 @@ Note that entities can have multiple types, e.g.:
     "@type" = ["File", "SoftwareSourceCode"]
 ```
 
+#### Selecting the RO-Crate specification version
+
+By default, a newly created RO-Crate conforms to the [RO-Crate 1.2](https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.2) specification, but 1.0 and 1.1 are still supported:
+
+```pycon
+>>> from rocrate.rocrate import ROCrate
+>>> crate = ROCrate()
+>>> crate.version
+'1.2'
+>>> crate = ROCrate(version="1.0")
+>>> crate.version
+'1.0'
+>>> crate.metadata.id
+'ro-crate-metadata.jsonld'
+```
+
+When consuming an RO-Crate (see below), the `version` parameter is ignored, and the RO-Crate version is read from the metadata descriptor instead.
+
+
 ### Consuming an RO-Crate
 
 An existing RO-Crate package can be loaded from a directory or zip file:
diff --git a/rocrate/metadata.py b/rocrate/metadata.py
index dd8a688a..4c1e7b76 100644
--- a/rocrate/metadata.py
+++ b/rocrate/metadata.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 import json
 import warnings
 
-from .model import Metadata, LegacyMetadata
+from .model.metadata import BASENAME, LEGACY_BASENAME
 
 
 def read_metadata(metadata_path):
@@ -85,13 +85,13 @@ def find_root_entity_id(entities):
     is more than one, we just return an arbitrary pair.
 
     """
-    descriptor = entities.get(Metadata.BASENAME, entities.get(LegacyMetadata.BASENAME))
+    descriptor = entities.get(BASENAME, entities.get(LEGACY_BASENAME))
     if descriptor:
         return _check_descriptor(descriptor, entities)
     candidates = []
     for id_, e in entities.items():
         basename = id_.rsplit("/", 1)[-1]
-        if basename == Metadata.BASENAME or basename == LegacyMetadata.BASENAME:
+        if basename == BASENAME or basename == LEGACY_BASENAME:
             try:
                 candidates.append(_check_descriptor(e, entities))
             except ValueError:
diff --git a/rocrate/model/__init__.py b/rocrate/model/__init__.py
index ae42887a..c2ed0e7e 100644
--- a/rocrate/model/__init__.py
+++ b/rocrate/model/__init__.py
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
 from .entity import Entity
 from .file import File
 from .file_or_dir import FileOrDir
-from .metadata import Metadata, LegacyMetadata
+from .metadata import Metadata
 from .person import Person
 from .root_dataset import RootDataset
 from .softwareapplication import SoftwareApplication
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@
     "Entity",
     "File",
     "FileOrDir",
-    "LegacyMetadata",
     "Metadata",
     "Person",
     "Preview",
diff --git a/rocrate/model/metadata.py b/rocrate/model/metadata.py
index 9a7c63e4..4ebbeb38 100644
--- a/rocrate/model/metadata.py
+++ b/rocrate/model/metadata.py
@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@
 from .dataset import Dataset
 
 
+SUPPORTED_VERSIONS = {"1.0", "1.1", "1.2"}
+DEFAULT_VERSION = "1.2"
+BASENAME = "ro-crate-metadata.json"
+LEGACY_BASENAME = "ro-crate-metadata.jsonld"
+
 WORKFLOW_PROFILE = "https://w3id.org/workflowhub/workflow-ro-crate/1.0"
 
 
@@ -36,12 +41,13 @@ class Metadata(File):
     """\
     RO-Crate metadata file.
     """
-    BASENAME = "ro-crate-metadata.json"
-    PROFILE = "https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.1"
-
-    def __init__(self, crate, source=None, dest_path=None, properties=None):
+    def __init__(self, crate, source=None, dest_path=None, properties=None, version=DEFAULT_VERSION):
+        if version not in SUPPORTED_VERSIONS:
+            raise ValueError(f"version {version!r} not supported")
+        self.version = version
+        self.profile = f"https://w3id.org/ro/crate/{self.version}"
         if source is None and dest_path is None:
-            dest_path = self.BASENAME
+            dest_path = LEGACY_BASENAME if version == "1.0" else BASENAME
         super().__init__(
             crate,
             source=source,
@@ -58,7 +64,7 @@ def _empty(self):
         # default properties of the metadata entry
         val = {"@id": self.id,
                "@type": "CreativeWork",
-               "conformsTo": {"@id": self.PROFILE},
+               "conformsTo": {"@id": self.profile},
                "about": {"@id": "./"}}
         return val
 
@@ -68,7 +74,7 @@ def generate(self):
         graph = []
         for entity in self.crate.get_entities():
             graph.append(entity.properties())
-        context = [f'{self.PROFILE}/context']
+        context = [f'{self.profile}/context']
         context.extend(self.extra_contexts)
         if self.extra_terms:
             context.append(self.extra_terms)
@@ -92,12 +98,6 @@ def root(self) -> Dataset:
         return self.crate.root_dataset
 
 
-class LegacyMetadata(Metadata):
-
-    BASENAME = "ro-crate-metadata.jsonld"
-    PROFILE = "https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.0"
-
-
 # https://github.com/ResearchObject/ro-terms/tree/master/test
 TESTING_EXTRA_TERMS = {
     "TestSuite": "https://w3id.org/ro/terms/test#TestSuite",
@@ -114,13 +114,3 @@ class LegacyMetadata(Metadata):
     "definition": "https://w3id.org/ro/terms/test#definition",
     "engineVersion": "https://w3id.org/ro/terms/test#engineVersion"
 }
-
-
-def metadata_class(descriptor_id):
-    basename = descriptor_id.rsplit("/", 1)[-1]
-    if basename == Metadata.BASENAME:
-        return Metadata
-    elif basename == LegacyMetadata.BASENAME:
-        return LegacyMetadata
-    else:
-        raise ValueError(f"Invalid metadata descriptor ID: {descriptor_id!r}")
diff --git a/rocrate/rocrate.py b/rocrate/rocrate.py
index c1ab5060..3467ee91 100644
--- a/rocrate/rocrate.py
+++ b/rocrate/rocrate.py
@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@
     Entity,
     File,
     FileOrDir,
-    LegacyMetadata,
     Metadata,
     Preview,
     RootDataset,
@@ -54,7 +53,7 @@
     TestSuite,
     WorkflowDescription,
 )
-from .model.metadata import WORKFLOW_PROFILE, TESTING_EXTRA_TERMS, metadata_class
+from .model.metadata import WORKFLOW_PROFILE, TESTING_EXTRA_TERMS, DEFAULT_VERSION, BASENAME, LEGACY_BASENAME
 from .model.computationalworkflow import galaxy_to_abstract_cwl
 from .model.computerlanguage import get_lang
 from .model.testservice import get_service
@@ -76,9 +75,17 @@ def pick_type(json_entity, type_map, fallback=None):
     return fallback
 
 
+def get_version(metadata_properties):
+    for uri in get_norm_value(metadata_properties, "conformsTo"):
+        base_uri, version = uri.rsplit("/", 1)
+        if base_uri.startswith("https://w3id.org/ro/crate"):
+            return version
+    return None
+
+
 class ROCrate():
 
-    def __init__(self, source=None, gen_preview=False, init=False, exclude=None):
+    def __init__(self, source=None, gen_preview=False, init=False, exclude=None, version=DEFAULT_VERSION):
         self.mode = None
         self.source = source
         self.exclude = exclude
@@ -92,7 +99,7 @@ def __init__(self, source=None, gen_preview=False, init=False, exclude=None):
             self.add(Preview(self))
         if not source:
             self.mode = Mode.CREATE
-            self.add(RootDataset(self), Metadata(self))
+            self.add(RootDataset(self), Metadata(self, version=version))
         elif init:
             self.mode = Mode.INIT
             if isinstance(source, dict):
@@ -104,11 +111,11 @@ def __init__(self, source=None, gen_preview=False, init=False, exclude=None):
         # in the zip case, self.source is the extracted dir
         self.source = source
 
-    def __init_from_tree(self, top_dir, gen_preview=False):
+    def __init_from_tree(self, top_dir, gen_preview=False, version=DEFAULT_VERSION):
         top_dir = Path(top_dir)
         if not top_dir.is_dir():
             raise NotADirectoryError(errno.ENOTDIR, f"'{top_dir}': not a directory")
-        self.add(RootDataset(self), Metadata(self))
+        self.add(RootDataset(self), Metadata(self, version=version))
         for root, dirs, files in walk(top_dir, exclude=self.exclude):
             root = Path(root)
             for name in dirs:
@@ -116,7 +123,7 @@ def __init_from_tree(self, top_dir, gen_preview=False):
                 self.add_dataset(source, source.relative_to(top_dir))
             for name in files:
                 source = root / name
-                if source == top_dir / Metadata.BASENAME or source == top_dir / LegacyMetadata.BASENAME:
+                if source == top_dir / BASENAME or source == top_dir / LEGACY_BASENAME:
                     continue
                 if source != top_dir / Preview.BASENAME:
                     self.add_file(source, source.relative_to(top_dir))
@@ -136,11 +143,11 @@ def __read(self, source, gen_preview=False):
                 with zipfile.ZipFile(source, "r") as zf:
                     zf.extractall(zip_path)
                 source = Path(zip_path)
-            metadata_path = source / Metadata.BASENAME
+            metadata_path = source / BASENAME
             if not metadata_path.is_file():
-                metadata_path = source / LegacyMetadata.BASENAME
+                metadata_path = source / LEGACY_BASENAME
             if not metadata_path.is_file():
-                raise ValueError(f"Not a valid RO-Crate: missing {Metadata.BASENAME}")
+                raise ValueError(f"Not a valid RO-Crate: missing {BASENAME}")
         _, entities = read_metadata(metadata_path)
         self.__read_data_entities(entities, source, gen_preview)
         self.__read_contextual_entities(entities)
@@ -154,9 +161,9 @@ def __read_data_entities(self, entities, source, gen_preview):
         assert root_id == root_entity.pop('@id')
         parts = as_list(root_entity.pop('hasPart', []))
         self.add(RootDataset(self, root_id, properties=root_entity))
-        MetadataClass = metadata_class(metadata_id)
         metadata_properties = entities.pop(metadata_id)
-        self.add(MetadataClass(self, metadata_id, properties=metadata_properties))
+        version = get_version(metadata_properties) or DEFAULT_VERSION
+        self.add(Metadata(self, metadata_id, properties=metadata_properties, version=version))
 
         preview_entity = entities.pop(Preview.BASENAME, None)
         if preview_entity and not gen_preview:
@@ -198,18 +205,18 @@ def __read_contextual_entities(self, entities):
     @property
     def default_entities(self):
         return [e for e in self.__entity_map.values()
-                if isinstance(e, (RootDataset, Metadata, LegacyMetadata, Preview))]
+                if isinstance(e, (RootDataset, Metadata, Preview))]
 
     @property
     def data_entities(self):
         return [e for e in self.__entity_map.values()
-                if not isinstance(e, (RootDataset, Metadata, LegacyMetadata, Preview))
+                if not isinstance(e, (RootDataset, Metadata, Preview))
                 and hasattr(e, "write")]
 
     @property
     def contextual_entities(self):
         return [e for e in self.__entity_map.values()
-                if not isinstance(e, (RootDataset, Metadata, LegacyMetadata, Preview))
+                if not isinstance(e, (RootDataset, Metadata, Preview))
                 and not hasattr(e, "write")]
 
     @property
@@ -300,6 +307,10 @@ def mainEntity(self):
     def mainEntity(self, value):
         self.root_dataset['mainEntity'] = value
 
+    @property
+    def version(self):
+        return self.metadata.version
+
     @property
     def test_dir(self):
         rval = self.dereference("test")
@@ -417,7 +428,7 @@ def add(self, *entities):
             key = e.canonical_id()
             if isinstance(e, RootDataset):
                 self.root_dataset = e
-            elif isinstance(e, (Metadata, LegacyMetadata)):
+            elif isinstance(e, Metadata):
                 self.metadata = e
             elif isinstance(e, Preview):
                 self.preview = e
diff --git a/test/conftest.py b/test/conftest.py
index ce6a7e73..ae8cc712 100644
--- a/test/conftest.py
+++ b/test/conftest.py
@@ -21,24 +21,22 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 import json
-import pathlib
 import shutil
+from pathlib import Path
 
 import pytest
 from rocrate.utils import get_norm_value
 
 
-THIS_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).absolute().parent
+THIS_DIR = Path(__file__).absolute().parent
 TEST_DATA_NAME = 'test-data'
 BASE_URL = 'https://w3id.org/ro/crate'
-VERSION = '1.1'
+DEFAULT_VERSION = '1.2'
 LEGACY_VERSION = '1.0'
 
 
 class Helpers:
 
-    PROFILE = f"{BASE_URL}/{VERSION}"
-    LEGACY_PROFILE = f"{BASE_URL}/{LEGACY_VERSION}"
     WORKFLOW_PROFILE = "https://w3id.org/workflowhub/workflow-ro-crate/1.0"
     METADATA_FILE_NAME = 'ro-crate-metadata.json'
     LEGACY_METADATA_FILE_NAME = 'ro-crate-metadata.jsonld'
@@ -49,20 +47,23 @@ class Helpers:
 
     @classmethod
     def read_json_entities(cls, crate_base_path):
-        metadata_path = pathlib.Path(crate_base_path) / cls.METADATA_FILE_NAME
+        crate_base_path = Path(crate_base_path)
+        metadata_path = crate_base_path / cls.METADATA_FILE_NAME
+        if not metadata_path.is_file():
+            metadata_path = crate_base_path / cls.LEGACY_METADATA_FILE_NAME
         with open(metadata_path, "rt") as f:
             json_data = json.load(f)
         return {_["@id"]: _ for _ in json_data["@graph"]}
 
     @classmethod
-    def check_crate(cls, json_entities, root_id="./", data_entity_ids=None):
+    def check_crate(cls, json_entities, root_id="./", data_entity_ids=None, version=DEFAULT_VERSION):
         assert root_id in json_entities
         root = json_entities[root_id]
         assert root["@type"] == "Dataset"
         assert cls.METADATA_FILE_NAME in json_entities
         metadata = json_entities[cls.METADATA_FILE_NAME]
         assert metadata["@type"] == "CreativeWork"
-        assert cls.PROFILE in get_norm_value(metadata, "conformsTo")
+        assert f"{BASE_URL}/{version}" in get_norm_value(metadata, "conformsTo")
         assert metadata["about"] == {"@id": root_id}
         if data_entity_ids:
             data_entity_ids = set(data_entity_ids)
@@ -91,7 +92,7 @@ def helpers():
 # pytest's default tmpdir returns a py.path object
 @pytest.fixture
 def tmpdir(tmpdir):
-    return pathlib.Path(tmpdir)
+    return Path(tmpdir)
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
diff --git a/test/test-data/crate-1.0/data.csv b/test/test-data/crate-1.0/data.csv
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..add268e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test-data/crate-1.0/data.csv
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+name,number
+foo,1
+bar,2
diff --git a/test/test-data/crate-1.0/ro-crate-metadata.jsonld b/test/test-data/crate-1.0/ro-crate-metadata.jsonld
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8387f121
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test-data/crate-1.0/ro-crate-metadata.jsonld
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+{
+    "@context": "https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.0/context",
+    "@graph": [
+        {
+            "@id": "ro-crate-metadata.jsonld",
+            "@type": "CreativeWork",
+            "about": {"@id": "./"},
+            "conformsTo": {"@id": "https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.0"}
+        },
+        {
+            "@id": "./",
+            "@type": "Dataset",
+            "name": "Example crate",
+            "description": "An example RO-Crate",
+            "datePublished": "2025-10-17",
+            "license": {"@id": "http://spdx.org/licenses/CC0-1.0"},
+            "hasPart": [{"@id": "data.csv"}]
+        },
+        {
+            "@id": "data.csv",
+            "@type": "File",
+            "name": "CSV data"
+        },
+        {
+            "@id": "http://spdx.org/licenses/CC0-1.0",
+            "@type": "CreativeWork",
+            "name": "CC0-1.0"
+        }
+    ]
+}
diff --git a/test/test-data/crate-1.1/data.csv b/test/test-data/crate-1.1/data.csv
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..add268e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test-data/crate-1.1/data.csv
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+name,number
+foo,1
+bar,2
diff --git a/test/test-data/crate-1.1/ro-crate-metadata.json b/test/test-data/crate-1.1/ro-crate-metadata.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..db8b31cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/test-data/crate-1.1/ro-crate-metadata.json
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+{
+    "@context": "https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.1/context",
+    "@graph": [
+        {
+            "@id": "ro-crate-metadata.json",
+            "@type": "CreativeWork",
+            "about": {"@id": "./"},
+            "conformsTo": {"@id": "https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.1"}
+        },
+        {
+            "@id": "./",
+            "@type": "Dataset",
+            "name": "Example crate",
+            "description": "An example RO-Crate",
+            "datePublished": "2025-10-17",
+            "license": {"@id": "http://spdx.org/licenses/CC0-1.0"},
+            "hasPart": [{"@id": "data.csv"}]
+        },
+        {
+            "@id": "data.csv",
+            "@type": "File",
+            "name": "CSV data"
+        },
+        {
+            "@id": "http://spdx.org/licenses/CC0-1.0",
+            "@type": "CreativeWork",
+            "name": "CC0-1.0"
+        }
+    ]
+}
diff --git a/test/test-data/read_crate/ro-crate-metadata.json b/test/test-data/read_crate/ro-crate-metadata.json
index 824293e3..6568c329 100644
--- a/test/test-data/read_crate/ro-crate-metadata.json
+++ b/test/test-data/read_crate/ro-crate-metadata.json
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {
-    "@context": "https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.1/context",
+    "@context": "https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.2/context",
     "@graph": [
         {
             "@id": "ro-crate-metadata.json",
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
                 "@id": "./"
             },
             "conformsTo": {
-                "@id": "https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.1"
+                "@id": "https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.2"
             }
         },
         {
diff --git a/test/test-data/read_extra/ro-crate-metadata.json b/test/test-data/read_extra/ro-crate-metadata.json
index 90e26823..8d6a042b 100644
--- a/test/test-data/read_extra/ro-crate-metadata.json
+++ b/test/test-data/read_extra/ro-crate-metadata.json
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {
-    "@context": "https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.1/context",
+    "@context": "https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.2/context",
     "@graph": [
         {
             "@id": "./",
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@
                 "@id": "./"
             },
             "conformsTo": {
-                "@id": "https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.1"
+                "@id": "https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.2"
             }
         },
         {
diff --git a/test/test-data/ro-crate-galaxy-sortchangecase/ro-crate-metadata.json b/test/test-data/ro-crate-galaxy-sortchangecase/ro-crate-metadata.json
index ddde0c08..aeddd770 100644
--- a/test/test-data/ro-crate-galaxy-sortchangecase/ro-crate-metadata.json
+++ b/test/test-data/ro-crate-galaxy-sortchangecase/ro-crate-metadata.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
     "@context": [
-        "https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.1/context",
+        "https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.2/context",
         {
             "TestSuite": "https://w3id.org/ro/terms/test#TestSuite",
             "TestInstance": "https://w3id.org/ro/terms/test#TestInstance",
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
                 "@id": "./"
             },
             "conformsTo": {
-                "@id": "https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.1"
+                "@id": "https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.2"
             }
         },
         {
diff --git a/test/test_model.py b/test/test_model.py
index e195eded..1f17f09d 100644
--- a/test/test_model.py
+++ b/test/test_model.py
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
     Preview,
     ContextEntity
 )
+from .conftest import BASE_URL, DEFAULT_VERSION
 
 
 RAW_REPO_URL = "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ResearchObject/ro-crate-py"
@@ -456,7 +457,7 @@ def test_get_by_type(test_data_dir):
 def test_context(helpers):
     crate = ROCrate()
     jsonld = crate.metadata.generate()
-    base_context = f"{helpers.PROFILE}/context"
+    base_context = f"{BASE_URL}/{DEFAULT_VERSION}/context"
     assert jsonld["@context"] == base_context
     wfrun_ctx = "https://w3id.org/ro/terms/workflow-run"
     crate.metadata.extra_contexts.append(wfrun_ctx)
diff --git a/test/test_read.py b/test/test_read.py
index 4396d891..17194b99 100644
--- a/test/test_read.py
+++ b/test/test_read.py
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ def test_crate_dir_loading(test_data_dir, tmpdir, helpers, gen_preview, from_zip
     else:
         crate = ROCrate(crate_dir, gen_preview=gen_preview)
 
+    assert crate.version == "1.2"
     assert set(_["@id"] for _ in crate.default_entities) == {
         "./",
         "ro-crate-metadata.json",
@@ -74,8 +75,7 @@ def test_crate_dir_loading(test_data_dir, tmpdir, helpers, gen_preview, from_zip
     assert md_prop['@id'] == helpers.METADATA_FILE_NAME
     assert md_prop['@type'] == 'CreativeWork'
     assert md_prop['about'] == {'@id': './'}
-    # conformsTo is currently hardcoded in the Metadata class, not read from the crate
-    assert md_prop['conformsTo'] == {'@id': helpers.PROFILE}
+    assert md_prop['conformsTo'] == {'@id': "https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.2"}
     assert metadata.root is root
 
     preview = crate.dereference(helpers.PREVIEW_FILE_NAME)
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ def test_legacy_crate(test_data_dir, tmpdir, helpers):
     md_prop = crate.metadata.properties()
 
     assert crate.dereference(helpers.LEGACY_METADATA_FILE_NAME) is crate.metadata
-    assert md_prop['conformsTo'] == {'@id': helpers.LEGACY_PROFILE}
+    assert md_prop['conformsTo'] == {'@id': "https://w3id.org/ro/crate/1.0"}
 
     main_wf = crate.dereference('test_galaxy_wf.ga')
     wf_prop = main_wf.properties()
@@ -683,3 +683,10 @@ def test_init_percent_escape(tmpdir, helpers):
     assert (out_crate / "in file.txt").is_file()
     assert (out_crate / "in dir").is_dir()
     assert (out_crate / "in dir" / "deep file.txt").is_file()
+
+
+def test_read_version(test_data_dir):
+    crate = ROCrate(test_data_dir / "crate-1.0")
+    assert crate.version == "1.0"
+    crate = ROCrate(test_data_dir / "crate-1.1")
+    assert crate.version == "1.1"
diff --git a/test/test_write.py b/test/test_write.py
index 197d0bc4..d8f5e9fd 100644
--- a/test/test_write.py
+++ b/test/test_write.py
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 import io
+import json
 import pytest
 import requests
 import os
@@ -597,3 +598,19 @@ def test_write_zip_nested_dest(tmpdir, helpers):
     assert "subdir/a%20b/" in json_entities
     assert (unpack_path / "subdir" / "a b" / "c d.txt").is_file()
     assert (unpack_path / "subdir" / "a b" / "j k" / "l m.txt").is_file()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("version", ["1.0", "1.1", "1.2"])
+def test_write_version(tmpdir, helpers, version):
+    basename = helpers.LEGACY_METADATA_FILE_NAME if version == "1.0" else helpers.METADATA_FILE_NAME
+    crate = ROCrate(version=version)
+    assert crate.metadata.version == version
+    out_path = tmpdir / "ro_crate_out"
+    crate.write(out_path)
+    assert (out_path / basename).is_file()
+    json_entities = helpers.read_json_entities(out_path)
+    assert (md := json_entities.get(basename)) is not None
+    assert md["conformsTo"]["@id"] == f"https://w3id.org/ro/crate/{version}"
+    with open(out_path / basename, "rt") as f:
+        data = json.load(f)
+    assert data["@context"] == f"https://w3id.org/ro/crate/{version}/context"