diff --git a/tools/cldr-code/src/main/java/org/unicode/cldr/json/Ldml2JsonConverter.java b/tools/cldr-code/src/main/java/org/unicode/cldr/json/Ldml2JsonConverter.java
index 0857be52332..35c413c1019 100644
--- a/tools/cldr-code/src/main/java/org/unicode/cldr/json/Ldml2JsonConverter.java
+++ b/tools/cldr-code/src/main/java/org/unicode/cldr/json/Ldml2JsonConverter.java
@@ -540,6 +540,7 @@ private Map<JSONSection, List<CldrItem>> mapPathsToSections(
         Matcher noNumberingSystemMatcher = LdmlConvertRules.NO_NUMBERING_SYSTEM_PATTERN.matcher("");
         Matcher numberingSystemMatcher = LdmlConvertRules.NUMBERING_SYSTEM_PATTERN.matcher("");
         Matcher rootIdentityMatcher = LdmlConvertRules.ROOT_IDENTITY_PATTERN.matcher("");
+        Matcher versionMatcher = LdmlConvertRules.VERSION_PATTERN.matcher("");
         Set<String> activeNumberingSystems = new TreeSet<>();
         activeNumberingSystems.add("latn"); // Always include latin script numbers
         for (String np : LdmlConvertRules.ACTIVE_NUMBERING_SYSTEM_XPATHS) {
@@ -588,11 +589,19 @@ private Map<JSONSection, List<CldrItem>> mapPathsToSections(
                 continue;
             }
             // Discard root identity element unless the locale is root
+            // TODO: CLDR-17790 this code should not be needed.
             rootIdentityMatcher.reset(fullPath);
             if (rootIdentityMatcher.matches() && !"root".equals(locID)) {
                 continue;
             }
 
+            // discard version stuff
+            versionMatcher.reset(fullPath);
+            if (versionMatcher.matches()) {
+                // drop //ldml/identity/version entirely.
+                continue;
+            }
+
             // automatically filter out number symbols and formats without a numbering system
             noNumberingSystemMatcher.reset(fullPath);
             if (noNumberingSystemMatcher.matches()) {
diff --git a/tools/cldr-code/src/main/java/org/unicode/cldr/json/LdmlConvertRules.java b/tools/cldr-code/src/main/java/org/unicode/cldr/json/LdmlConvertRules.java
index e1eb03ec4e1..7e890aa5052 100644
--- a/tools/cldr-code/src/main/java/org/unicode/cldr/json/LdmlConvertRules.java
+++ b/tools/cldr-code/src/main/java/org/unicode/cldr/json/LdmlConvertRules.java
@@ -422,6 +422,12 @@ public static class SplittableAttributeSpec {
     public static final Pattern ROOT_IDENTITY_PATTERN =
             Pattern.compile("//ldml/identity/language\\[@type=\"root\"\\]");
 
+    /**
+     * Version (coming from DTD) should be discarded everywhere. This information is now in
+     * package.json.
+     */
+    public static final Pattern VERSION_PATTERN = Pattern.compile("//ldml/identity/version.*");
+
     /** A simple class to hold the specification of a path transformation. */
     public static class PathTransformSpec {