diff --git a/cmd/postcli/main.go b/cmd/postcli/main.go
index d2a3326f9..953c1e610 100644
--- a/cmd/postcli/main.go
+++ b/cmd/postcli/main.go
@@ -298,8 +298,8 @@ func cmdVerifyPos(opts config.InitOpts, fraction float64, logger *zap.Logger) {
 	}
 	pub := ed25519.NewKeyFromSeed(dst[:ed25519.SeedSize]).Public().(ed25519.PublicKey)
 
-	metafile := filepath.Join(opts.DataDir, initialization.MetadataFileName)
-	meta, err := initialization.LoadMetadata(opts.DataDir)
+	metafile := filepath.Join(opts.DataDir, shared.MetadataFileName)
+	meta, err := shared.LoadMetadata(opts.DataDir)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatalf("failed to load metadata from %s: %s\n", opts.DataDir, err)
 	}
diff --git a/initialization/initialization.go b/initialization/initialization.go
index e72ef226c..b3e36a741 100644
--- a/initialization/initialization.go
+++ b/initialization/initialization.go
@@ -409,7 +409,7 @@ func removeRedundantFiles(cfg config.Config, opts config.InitOpts, logger *zap.L
 	for _, file := range files {
 		name := file.Name()
 		fileIndex, err := shared.ParseFileIndex(name)
-		if err != nil && name != MetadataFileName {
+		if err != nil && name != shared.MetadataFileName {
 			// TODO(mafa): revert back to warning, see https://github.com/spacemeshos/go-spacemesh/issues/4789
 			logger.Debug("found unrecognized file", zap.String("fileName", name))
 			continue
@@ -460,7 +460,7 @@ func (init *Initializer) Reset() error {
 			continue
 		}
 		name := file.Name()
-		if shared.IsInitFile(info) || name == MetadataFileName {
+		if shared.IsInitFile(info) || name == shared.MetadataFileName {
 			path := filepath.Join(init.opts.DataDir, name)
 			if err := os.Remove(path); err != nil {
 				return fmt.Errorf("failed to delete file (%v): %w", path, err)
@@ -692,9 +692,9 @@ func (init *Initializer) saveMetadata() error {
 	if init.nonceValue.Load() != nil {
 		v.NonceValue = *init.nonceValue.Load()
 	}
-	return SaveMetadata(init.opts.DataDir, &v)
+	return shared.SaveMetadata(init.opts.DataDir, &v)
 }
 
 func (init *Initializer) loadMetadata() (*shared.PostMetadata, error) {
-	return LoadMetadata(init.opts.DataDir)
+	return shared.LoadMetadata(init.opts.DataDir)
 }
diff --git a/initialization/initialization_errors.go b/initialization/initialization_errors.go
index 9e3c11847..304b9889c 100644
--- a/initialization/initialization_errors.go
+++ b/initialization/initialization_errors.go
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import (
 var (
 	ErrAlreadyInitializing          = errors.New("already initializing")
 	ErrCannotResetWhileInitializing = errors.New("cannot reset while initializing")
-	ErrStateMetadataFileMissing     = errors.New("metadata file is missing")
 )
 
 type ErrReferenceLabelMismatch struct {
diff --git a/initialization/initialization_test.go b/initialization/initialization_test.go
index e306f60cf..5c9d17cbb 100644
--- a/initialization/initialization_test.go
+++ b/initialization/initialization_test.go
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ func TestInitialize_BeforeNonceValue(t *testing.T) {
 	cancel()
 	require.Equal(t, uint64(cfg.MinNumUnits)*cfg.LabelsPerUnit, init.NumLabelsWritten())
 
-	meta, err := LoadMetadata(opts.DataDir)
+	meta, err := shared.LoadMetadata(opts.DataDir)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	require.NotNil(t, meta.Nonce)
 	require.NotNil(t, meta.NonceValue)
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ func TestInitialize_BeforeNonceValue(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// delete nonce value
 	meta.NonceValue = nil
-	require.NoError(t, SaveMetadata(opts.DataDir, meta))
+	require.NoError(t, shared.SaveMetadata(opts.DataDir, meta))
 
 	// just creating a new initializer should update the metadata
 	init, err = NewInitializer(
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ func TestInitialize_BeforeNonceValue(t *testing.T) {
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	require.NotNil(t, init)
 
-	meta, err = LoadMetadata(opts.DataDir)
+	meta, err = shared.LoadMetadata(opts.DataDir)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	require.NotNil(t, meta.Nonce)
 	require.NotNil(t, meta.NonceValue)
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ func TestInitialize_ContinueWithLastPos(t *testing.T) {
 	r.NoError(init.Initialize(context.Background()))
 	r.Equal(uint64(cfg.MinNumUnits)*cfg.LabelsPerUnit, init.NumLabelsWritten())
 
-	m, err := LoadMetadata(opts.DataDir)
+	m, err := shared.LoadMetadata(opts.DataDir)
 	r.NoError(err)
 	r.Equal(origNonce, *m.Nonce)
 	r.EqualValues(origNonceValue, m.NonceValue)
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ func TestInitialize_ContinueWithLastPos(t *testing.T) {
 	// lastPos lower than numLabels is ignored
 	m.LastPosition = new(uint64)
 	*m.LastPosition = uint64(cfg.MinNumUnits)*cfg.LabelsPerUnit - 10
-	r.NoError(SaveMetadata(opts.DataDir, m))
+	r.NoError(shared.SaveMetadata(opts.DataDir, m))
 
 	init, err = NewInitializer(
 		WithNodeId(nodeId),
@@ -222,7 +222,7 @@ func TestInitialize_ContinueWithLastPos(t *testing.T) {
 	r.NoError(init.Initialize(context.Background()))
 	r.Equal(uint64(cfg.MinNumUnits)*cfg.LabelsPerUnit, init.NumLabelsWritten())
 
-	m, err = LoadMetadata(opts.DataDir)
+	m, err = shared.LoadMetadata(opts.DataDir)
 	r.NoError(err)
 	r.Equal(origNonce, *m.Nonce)
 
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ func TestInitialize_ContinueWithLastPos(t *testing.T) {
 	// the range of the PoST
 	m.Nonce = nil
 	m.LastPosition = nil
-	r.NoError(SaveMetadata(opts.DataDir, m))
+	r.NoError(shared.SaveMetadata(opts.DataDir, m))
 
 	init, err = NewInitializer(
 		WithNodeId(nodeId),
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ func TestInitialize_ContinueWithLastPos(t *testing.T) {
 	r.NoError(init.Initialize(context.Background()))
 	r.Equal(uint64(cfg.MinNumUnits)*cfg.LabelsPerUnit, init.NumLabelsWritten())
 
-	m, err = LoadMetadata(opts.DataDir)
+	m, err = shared.LoadMetadata(opts.DataDir)
 	r.NoError(err)
 	r.NotNil(m.Nonce)
 	r.NotNil(m.NonceValue)
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ func TestInitialize_ContinueWithLastPos(t *testing.T) {
 	lastPos := *m.Nonce + 10
 	*m.LastPosition = lastPos
 	m.Nonce = nil
-	r.NoError(SaveMetadata(opts.DataDir, m))
+	r.NoError(shared.SaveMetadata(opts.DataDir, m))
 
 	init, err = NewInitializer(
 		WithNodeId(nodeId),
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ func TestInitialize_ContinueWithLastPos(t *testing.T) {
 	r.NoError(init.Initialize(context.Background()))
 	r.Equal(uint64(cfg.MinNumUnits)*cfg.LabelsPerUnit, init.NumLabelsWritten())
 
-	m, err = LoadMetadata(opts.DataDir)
+	m, err = shared.LoadMetadata(opts.DataDir)
 	r.NoError(err)
 	r.NotNil(m.Nonce)
 	r.NotNil(m.LastPosition)
@@ -1028,7 +1028,7 @@ func TestInitializeSubset_NoNonce(t *testing.T) {
 	require.Nil(t, init.Nonce())
 	require.Nil(t, init.NonceValue())
 
-	meta, err := LoadMetadata(opts.DataDir)
+	meta, err := shared.LoadMetadata(opts.DataDir)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	require.Nil(t, meta.Nonce)
 
diff --git a/initialization/metadata.go b/initialization/metadata.go
deleted file mode 100644
index ae8bf562b..000000000
--- a/initialization/metadata.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,49 +0,0 @@
-package initialization
-
-import (
-	"encoding/json"
-	"fmt"
-	"os"
-	"path/filepath"
-
-	"github.com/spacemeshos/post/shared"
-)
-
-const MetadataFileName = "postdata_metadata.json"
-
-func SaveMetadata(dir string, v *shared.PostMetadata) error {
-	err := os.MkdirAll(dir, shared.OwnerReadWriteExec)
-	if err != nil && !os.IsExist(err) {
-		return fmt.Errorf("dir creation failure: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	data, err := json.Marshal(v)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("serialization failure: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	err = os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(dir, MetadataFileName), data, shared.OwnerReadWrite)
-	if err != nil {
-		return fmt.Errorf("write to disk failure: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	return nil
-}
-
-func LoadMetadata(dir string) (*shared.PostMetadata, error) {
-	filename := filepath.Join(dir, MetadataFileName)
-	data, err := os.ReadFile(filename)
-	if err != nil {
-		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
-			return nil, ErrStateMetadataFileMissing
-		}
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("read file failure: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	metadata := shared.PostMetadata{}
-	if err := json.Unmarshal(data, &metadata); err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
-	return &metadata, nil
-}
diff --git a/initialization/vrf_search.go b/initialization/vrf_search.go
index a10a00b21..7e471a125 100644
--- a/initialization/vrf_search.go
+++ b/initialization/vrf_search.go
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ func SearchForNonce(ctx context.Context, cfg Config, initOpts InitOpts, opts ...
 	}
 	logger := options.logger
 
-	metadata, err := LoadMetadata(initOpts.DataDir)
+	metadata, err := shared.LoadMetadata(initOpts.DataDir)
 	if err != nil {
 		return 0, nil, fmt.Errorf("failed to load metadata: %w", err)
 	}
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ func persistNonce(nonce uint64, label []byte, metadata *shared.PostMetadata, dat
 	logger.Info("found nonce: updating postdata_metadata.json", zap.Uint64("nonce", nonce), zap.String("NonceValue", hex.EncodeToString(label)))
 	metadata.Nonce = &nonce
 	metadata.NonceValue = shared.NonceValue(label)
-	if err := SaveMetadata(datadir, metadata); err != nil {
+	if err := shared.SaveMetadata(datadir, metadata); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to save metadata: %w", err)
 	}
 	return nil
diff --git a/initialization/vrf_search_test.go b/initialization/vrf_search_test.go
index a2f61ad5a..b4c9fdf99 100644
--- a/initialization/vrf_search_test.go
+++ b/initialization/vrf_search_test.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/spacemeshos/post/config"
 	"github.com/spacemeshos/post/internal/postrs"
 	"github.com/spacemeshos/post/oracle"
+	"github.com/spacemeshos/post/shared"
 )
 
 func TestCheckLabel(t *testing.T) {
@@ -88,7 +89,7 @@ func TestSearchForNonce(t *testing.T) {
 	err = init.Initialize(context.Background())
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
-	metadata, err := LoadMetadata(opts.DataDir)
+	metadata, err := shared.LoadMetadata(opts.DataDir)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	expectedNonce := metadata.Nonce
@@ -96,7 +97,7 @@ func TestSearchForNonce(t *testing.T) {
 	// remove Nonce and NonceValue from metadata
 	metadata.Nonce = nil
 	metadata.NonceValue = nil
-	err = SaveMetadata(opts.DataDir, metadata)
+	err = shared.SaveMetadata(opts.DataDir, metadata)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	nonce, value, err := SearchForNonce(
@@ -110,7 +111,7 @@ func TestSearchForNonce(t *testing.T) {
 	require.EqualValues(t, expectedNonceValue, value)
 
 	// Verify that nonce was written to the metatada file
-	metadata, err = LoadMetadata(opts.DataDir)
+	metadata, err = shared.LoadMetadata(opts.DataDir)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	require.Equal(t, expectedNonce, metadata.Nonce)
 	require.EqualValues(t, expectedNonceValue, metadata.NonceValue)
diff --git a/proving/proving_options.go b/proving/proving_options.go
index c2c11ee1b..239bfa76b 100644
--- a/proving/proving_options.go
+++ b/proving/proving_options.go
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 
 	"github.com/spacemeshos/post/config"
-	"github.com/spacemeshos/post/initialization"
 	"github.com/spacemeshos/post/shared"
 )
 
@@ -39,7 +38,7 @@ type OptionFunc func(*option) error
 // WithDataSource sets the data source to use for the proof.
 func WithDataSource(cfg config.Config, nodeId, commitmentAtxId []byte, datadir string) OptionFunc {
 	return func(o *option) error {
-		m, err := initialization.LoadMetadata(datadir)
+		m, err := shared.LoadMetadata(datadir)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
diff --git a/shared/post_metadata.go b/shared/post_metadata.go
index 1b388380e..9c836bd05 100644
--- a/shared/post_metadata.go
+++ b/shared/post_metadata.go
@@ -3,10 +3,19 @@ package shared
 import (
 	"encoding/hex"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 )
 
+// ErrStateMetadataFileMissing is returned when the metadata file is missing.
+var ErrStateMetadataFileMissing = errors.New("metadata file is missing")
+
 // PostMetadata is the data associated with the PoST init procedure, persisted in the datadir next to the init files.
 type PostMetadata struct {
+	Version int `json:",omitempty"`
+
 	NodeId          []byte
 	CommitmentAtxId []byte
 
@@ -32,3 +41,42 @@ func (n *NonceValue) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) (err error) {
 	*n, err = hex.DecodeString(hexString)
 	return
 }
+
+const MetadataFileName = "postdata_metadata.json"
+
+func SaveMetadata(dir string, v *PostMetadata) error {
+	err := os.MkdirAll(dir, OwnerReadWriteExec)
+	if err != nil && !os.IsExist(err) {
+		return fmt.Errorf("dir creation failure: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	data, err := json.Marshal(v)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("serialization failure: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	err = os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(dir, MetadataFileName), data, OwnerReadWrite)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("write to disk failure: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func LoadMetadata(dir string) (*PostMetadata, error) {
+	filename := filepath.Join(dir, MetadataFileName)
+	data, err := os.ReadFile(filename)
+	if err != nil {
+		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			return nil, ErrStateMetadataFileMissing
+		}
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("read file failure: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	metadata := PostMetadata{}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(data, &metadata); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return &metadata, nil
+}