diff --git a/nvm.sh b/nvm.sh
index cc54366..c6641fd 100644
--- a/nvm.sh
+++ b/nvm.sh
@@ -199,6 +199,11 @@ nvm_version() {
     return $?
   fi
 
+  case "_$PATTERN" in
+    "_$(nvm_node_prefix)" | "_$(nvm_node_prefix)-")
+      PATTERN="stable"
+    ;;
+  esac
   VERSION="$(nvm_ls "$PATTERN" | tail -n1)"
   if [ -z "$VERSION" ] || [ "_$VERSION" = "_N/A" ]; then
     echo "N/A"
diff --git a/test/fast/Unit tests/nvm_version b/test/fast/Unit tests/nvm_version
index 7babb8c..4d5063b 100755
--- a/test/fast/Unit tests/nvm_version	
+++ b/test/fast/Unit tests/nvm_version	
@@ -29,8 +29,9 @@ nvm_ls() {
   echo "line 2"
   echo "pattern: $1"
 }
-
 [ "_$(nvm_version foo)" = "_pattern: foo" ] || die '"nvm_version foo" did not pass the pattern to "nvm_ls", or return the last line'
+[ "_$(nvm_version node)" = "_pattern: stable" ] || die '"nvm_version node" did not pass "stable" to "nvm_ls"'
+[ "_$(nvm_version node-)" = "_pattern: stable" ] || die '"nvm_version node-" did not pass "stable" to "nvm_ls"'
 
 nvm_ls() { echo "N/A"; }
 OUTPUT="$(nvm_version foo)"