diff --git a/version/race.go b/version/race.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..21972fa9a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/version/race.go
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2021 Tailscale Inc & AUTHORS All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+// +build race
+
+package version
+
+// IsRace reports whether the current binary was built with the Go
+// race detector enabled.
+func IsRace() bool { return true }
diff --git a/version/race_off.go b/version/race_off.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9876efc1b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/version/race_off.go
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2021 Tailscale Inc & AUTHORS All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+// +build !race
+
+package version
+
+// IsRace reports whether the current binary was built with the Go
+// race detector enabled.
+func IsRace() bool { return false }