diff --git a/Lib/test/test_venv.py b/Lib/test/test_venv.py
index 58ae85fb268042e..e7d5e890c1c31a4 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_venv.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_venv.py
@@ -146,6 +146,9 @@ def _check_output_of_default_create(self):
         self.assertIn('home = %s' % path, data)
         self.assertIn('executable = %s' %
                       os.path.realpath(sys.executable), data)
+        self.assertIn("python-version = %d.%d" % (sys.version_info.major,
+                                                  sys.version_info.minor),
+                      data)
         copies = '' if os.name=='nt' else ' --copies'
         cmd = (f'command = {sys.executable} -m venv{copies} --without-pip '
                f'--without-scm-ignore-files {self.env_dir}')
diff --git a/Lib/venv/__init__.py b/Lib/venv/__init__.py
index bd2762d55ef6961..0a96d11cb9baa3e 100644
--- a/Lib/venv/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/venv/__init__.py
@@ -232,6 +232,8 @@ def create_configuration(self, context):
                 incl = 'false'
             f.write('include-system-site-packages = %s\n' % incl)
             f.write('version = %d.%d.%d\n' % sys.version_info[:3])
+            f.write('python-version = %d.%d\n' % (sys.version_info.major,
+                                                  sys.version_info.minor))
             if self.prompt is not None:
                 f.write(f'prompt = {self.prompt!r}\n')
             f.write('executable = %s\n' % os.path.realpath(sys.executable))
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-07-21-17-29-19.gh-issue-154377.pep838.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-07-21-17-29-19.gh-issue-154377.pep838.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000000..e760a6f436bd11f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2026-07-21-17-29-19.gh-issue-154377.pep838.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Add a ``python-version`` key to ``pyvenv.cfg`` files created by :mod:`venv`.
+This implements :pep:`838`.