diff --git a/src/bot/botutils.jl b/src/bot/botutils.jl
index 33ec50be6..00e37eeaa 100644
--- a/src/bot/botutils.jl
+++ b/src/bot/botutils.jl
@@ -280,3 +280,35 @@ julia> VersionFloat(v"1.4.2")
 ```
 """
 VersionFloat(v::VersionNumber) = join(split(string(v),'.')[1:2],'.')
+
+# https://github.com/JuliaLang/julia/pull/36223:
+"""
+    JuliaVersionNumber(v::String)
+    JuliaVersionNumber(v::VersionNumber)
+returns the Julia version number by following the same specifications as VersionNumber.
+`JuliaVersionNumber` will fetch the latest nightly version number if `"nightly"` or `"latest"` is given as the input.
+# Examples
+```julia
+julia> JuliaVersionNumber("nightly")
+v"1.6.0-DEV"
+```
+```jldoctest
+julia> JuliaVersionNumber("1.2.3")
+v"1.2.3"
+julia> JuliaVersionNumber(v"1.2.3")
+v"1.2.3"
+```
+"""
+JuliaVersionNumber(v::VersionNumber) = v
+function JuliaVersionNumber(v::String)
+    if in(v, ["nightly", "latest"])
+        version_path = download(
+            "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/JuliaLang/julia/master/VERSION",
+            joinpath(tempdir(), "VERSION.txt"),
+        )
+        version_str = replace(Base.read(version_path, String), "\n" => "")
+        return VersionNumber(version_str)
+    else
+        return VersionNumber(v)
+    end
+end
diff --git a/test/bot/bot.jl b/test/bot/bot.jl
index e4da1b16b..b6470e09f 100644
--- a/test/bot/bot.jl
+++ b/test/bot/bot.jl
@@ -421,3 +421,5 @@ bottestdir = GoodPath(@__DIR__)
     # just in case
     cd(snoopcompiledir)
 end
+
+include("bot/botutils.jl")
diff --git a/test/bot/botutils.jl b/test/bot/botutils.jl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..288069cf5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/bot/botutils.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+# JuliaVersionNumber
+
+# https://github.com/JuliaLang/julia/pull/36223:
+# @test JuliaVersionNumber("nightly") ==
+      # VersionNumber(replace(Base.read("VERSION", String), "\n" => ""))
+# @test thispatch(JuliaVersionNumber("nightly")) == thispatch(VERSION)
+@test JuliaVersionNumber("1.2.3") == v"1.2.3"
+@test JuliaVersionNumber(v"1.2.3") == v"1.2.3"