diff --git a/wp-admin/includes/update-core.php b/wp-admin/includes/update-core.php
index be4650a37c..1aeaffee65 100644
--- a/wp-admin/includes/update-core.php
+++ b/wp-admin/includes/update-core.php
@@ -614,11 +614,34 @@ function update_core($from, $to) {
 
 	@set_time_limit( 300 );
 
+	// Sanity check the unzipped distribution
+	apply_filters( 'update_feedback', __('Verifying the unpacked files…') );
+	$distro = '';
+	$roots = array( '/wordpress/', '/wordpress-mu/' );
+	foreach ( $roots as $root ) {
+		if ( $wp_filesystem->exists( $from . $root . 'readme.html' ) && $wp_filesystem->exists( $from . $root . 'wp-includes/version.php' ) ) {
+			$distro = $root;
+			break;
+		}
+	}
+	if ( ! $distro ) {
+		$wp_filesystem->delete( $from, true );
+		return new WP_Error( 'insane_distro', __('The update could not be unpacked') );
+	}
+
+	// Import $wp_version, $required_php_version, and $required_mysql_version from the new version
+	$versions_file = $wp_filesystem->wp_content_dir() . 'upgrade/version-current.php';
+	if ( ! $wp_filesystem->copy( $from . $distro . 'wp-includes/version.php', $versions_file ) ) {
+		 $wp_filesystem->delete( $from, true );
+		 return new WP_Error( 'copy_failed', __('Could not copy file.') );
+	}
+
+	$wp_filesystem->chmod( $versions_file, FS_CHMOD_FILE );
+	require_once( WP_CONTENT_DIR . '/upgrade/version-current.php' );
+	$wp_filesystem->delete( $versions_file );
+
 	$php_version    = phpversion();
 	$mysql_version  = $wpdb->db_version();
-	$required_php_version = '5.2.4';
-	$required_mysql_version = '5.0';
-	$wp_version = '3.4';
 	$old_wp_version = $GLOBALS['wp_version']; // The version of WordPress we're updating from
 	$development_build = ( false !== strpos( $old_wp_version . $wp_version, '-' )  ); // a dash in the version indicates a Development release
 	$php_compat     = version_compare( $php_version, $required_php_version, '>=' );
@@ -637,21 +660,6 @@ function update_core($from, $to) {
 	elseif ( !$mysql_compat )
 		return new WP_Error( 'mysql_not_compatible', sprintf( __('The update cannot be installed because WordPress %1$s requires MySQL version %2$s or higher. You are running version %3$s.'), $wp_version, $required_mysql_version, $mysql_version ) );
 
-	// Sanity check the unzipped distribution
-	apply_filters('update_feedback', __('Verifying the unpacked files…'));
-	$distro = '';
-	$roots = array( '/wordpress/', '/wordpress-mu/' );
-	foreach( $roots as $root ) {
-		if ( $wp_filesystem->exists($from . $root . 'readme.html') && $wp_filesystem->exists($from . $root . 'wp-includes/version.php') ) {
-			$distro = $root;
-			break;
-		}
-	}
-	if ( !$distro ) {
-		$wp_filesystem->delete($from, true);
-		return new WP_Error('insane_distro', __('The update could not be unpacked') );
-	}
-
 	apply_filters('update_feedback', __('Installing the latest version…'));
 
 	// Create maintenance file to signal that we are upgrading