diff --git a/lib/cfg-lexer.c b/lib/cfg-lexer.c
index 3222bdf5e..e1aa3fc8a 100644
--- a/lib/cfg-lexer.c
+++ b/lib/cfg-lexer.c
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 #include "cfg-lexer-subst.h"
 #include "cfg-block-generator.h"
 #include "cfg-grammar.h"
+#include "cfg.h"
 #include "block-ref-parser.h"
 #include "pragma-parser.h"
 #include "messages.h"
@@ -1165,6 +1166,15 @@ cfg_lexer_preprocess(CfgLexer *self, gint tok, CFG_STYPE *yylval, CFG_LTYPE *yyl
 
       return CLPR_LEX_AGAIN;
     }
+  else if (cfg_lexer_get_context_type(self) != LL_CONTEXT_PRAGMA && !self->first_non_pragma_seen)
+    {
+      /* Config version must be set before the first non-pragma element to avoid
+       * version-specific inconsistencies (e.g. template functions). */
+      if (cfg_get_user_version(self->cfg) == 0)
+        cfg_set_current_version(self->cfg);
+
+      self->first_non_pragma_seen = TRUE;
+    }
 
   return CLPR_OK;
 }
diff --git a/lib/cfg-lexer.h b/lib/cfg-lexer.h
index 22938982a..786a3275c 100644
--- a/lib/cfg-lexer.h
+++ b/lib/cfg-lexer.h
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ struct _CfgLexer
   GString *token_pretext;
   GString *token_text;
   GlobalConfig *cfg;
-  guint ignore_pragma:1;
+  guint first_non_pragma_seen:1, ignore_pragma:1;
 };
 
 /* pattern buffer */
diff --git a/lib/cfg.c b/lib/cfg.c
index 61f575ef1..d7fe630d0 100644
--- a/lib/cfg.c
+++ b/lib/cfg.c
@@ -338,9 +338,12 @@ cfg_set_version(GlobalConfig *self, gint version)
 {
   if (self->user_version != 0)
     {
-      msg_warning("WARNING: you have multiple @version directives in your configuration, only the first one is considered",
+      msg_warning("WARNING: The @version directive must be placed at the top of the main configuration file "
+                  "(preferably as the very first line), preceding any @include directives and other configuration "
+                  "elements, otherwise, the current version will be used. If you specify multiple @version directives "
+                  "in your configuration, only the first one will be considered",
                   cfg_format_config_version_tag(self),
-                  cfg_format_version_tag("new-version", version));
+                  cfg_format_version_tag("ignored-version", version));
       return TRUE;
     }
   cfg_set_version_without_validation(self, version);
@@ -662,9 +665,6 @@ cfg_read_config(GlobalConfig *self, const gchar *fname, gchar *preprocess_into)
           cfg_dump_processed_config(self->preprocess_config, preprocess_into);
         }
 
-      if (self->user_version == 0)
-        cfg_set_current_version(self);
-
       if (res)
         {
           /* successfully parsed */
diff --git a/news/bugfix-312.md b/news/bugfix-312.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a9c8e14dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/bugfix-312.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Config `@version`: fixed compat-mode inconsistencies when `@version` was not specified at the top of the configuration
+file or was not specified at all