diff --git a/ipython-kernel.cabal b/ipython-kernel.cabal
--- a/ipython-kernel.cabal
+++ b/ipython-kernel.cabal
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 name:                ipython-kernel
-version:             0.8.3.0
+version:             0.8.4.0
 synopsis:            A library for creating kernels for IPython frontends
 
 description:         ipython-kernel is a library for communicating with frontends for the interactive IPython framework. It is used extensively in IHaskell, the interactive Haskell environment.
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
   hs-source-dirs:      src
   default-language:    Haskell2010
   build-depends:       base            >=4.6 && < 4.9,
-                       aeson           >=0.6 && < 0.11,
+                       aeson           >=0.6 && < 0.12,
                        bytestring      >=0.10,
                        cereal          >=0.3,
                        containers      >=0.5,
diff --git a/src/IHaskell/IPython/Message/Writer.hs b/src/IHaskell/IPython/Message/Writer.hs
--- a/src/IHaskell/IPython/Message/Writer.hs
+++ b/src/IHaskell/IPython/Message/Writer.hs
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@
 instance ToJSON Message where
   toJSON rep@KernelInfoReply{} =
     object
-      [ "protocol_version" .= string "5.0"  -- current protocol version, major and minor
+      [ "protocol_version" .= protocolVersion rep
+      , "banner" .= banner rep
       , "implementation" .= implementation rep
       , "implementation_version" .= implementationVersion rep
       , "language_info" .= languageInfo rep
diff --git a/src/IHaskell/IPython/Types.hs b/src/IHaskell/IPython/Types.hs
--- a/src/IHaskell/IPython/Types.hs
+++ b/src/IHaskell/IPython/Types.hs
@@ -287,6 +287,8 @@
              -- | A response to a KernelInfoRequest.
                KernelInfoReply
                  { header :: MessageHeader
+                 , protocolVersion :: String -- ^ current protocol version, major and minor
+                 , banner :: String -- ^ Kernel information description e.g. (IHaskell 0.8.3.0 GHC 7.10.2)
                  , implementation :: String -- ^ e.g. IHaskell
                  , implementationVersion :: String -- ^ The version of the implementation
                  , languageInfo :: LanguageInfo