diff --git a/common/include/villas/kernel/kernel.h b/common/include/villas/kernel/kernel.h
index 1f75e968a..64e61dc30 100644
--- a/common/include/villas/kernel/kernel.h
+++ b/common/include/villas/kernel/kernel.h
@@ -34,9 +34,6 @@
 extern "C" {
 #endif
 
-/* Forward declarations */
-struct version;
-
 #if WITH_CAP
 #include <sys/capability.h>
 
@@ -66,9 +63,6 @@ int kernel_set_nr_hugepages(int nr);
  */
 int kernel_get_cmdline_param(const char *param, char *buf, size_t len);
 
-/** Get the version of the kernel. */
-int kernel_get_version(struct version *v);
-
 /** Checks if a kernel module is loaded
  *
  * @param module the name of the module
diff --git a/common/include/villas/kernel/kernel.hpp b/common/include/villas/kernel/kernel.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..44d8d7762
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/include/villas/kernel/kernel.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+/** Linux kernel related functions.
+ *
+ * @file
+ * @author Steffen Vogel <stvogel@eonerc.rwth-aachen.de>
+ * @copyright 2017-2018, Institute for Automation of Complex Power Systems, EONERC
+ * @license GNU General Public License (version 3)
+ *
+ * VILLAScommon
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ *********************************************************************************/
+
+#pragma once
+
+#include <villas/version.hpp>
+
+namespace villas {
+namespace kernel {
+
+/** Get the version of the kernel. */
+utils::Version getVersion();
+
+} // namespace villas
+} // namespace kernel
diff --git a/common/lib/kernel/kernel.c b/common/lib/kernel/kernel.c
index 1d29d3acd..4b7f72a06 100644
--- a/common/lib/kernel/kernel.c
+++ b/common/lib/kernel/kernel.c
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@
 #include <inttypes.h>
 
 #include <sys/types.h>
-#include <sys/utsname.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <sys/wait.h>
 
@@ -121,19 +120,6 @@ int kernel_module_loaded(const char *module)
 	return ret;
 }
 
-int kernel_get_version(struct version *v)
-{
-	struct utsname uts;
-
-	if (uname(&uts) < 0)
-		return -1;
-
-	if (version_parse(uts.release, v))
-		return -1;
-
-	return 0;
-}
-
 int kernel_get_cmdline_param(const char *param, char *buf, size_t len)
 {
 	int ret;
diff --git a/common/lib/kernel/kernel.cpp b/common/lib/kernel/kernel.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e8a557745
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/lib/kernel/kernel.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+/** Linux kernel related functions.
+ *
+ * @author Steffen Vogel <stvogel@eonerc.rwth-aachen.de>
+ * @copyright 2017-2018, Institute for Automation of Complex Power Systems, EONERC
+ * @license GNU General Public License (version 3)
+ *
+ * VILLAScommon
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ *********************************************************************************/
+
+#include <sys/utsname.h>
+
+#include <villas/kernel/kernel.hpp>
+#include <villas/exceptions.hpp>
+
+using namespace villas::utils;
+
+Version villas::kernel::getVersion()
+{
+	struct utsname uts;
+
+	if (uname(&uts) < 0)
+		throw new SystemError("Failed to retrieve system identification");
+
+	std::string rel = uts.release;
+
+	/* Remove release part. E.g. 4.9.93-linuxkit-aufs */
+	auto sep = rel.find('-');
+	auto ver = rel.substr(0, sep - 1);
+
+	return Version(ver);
+}