diff --git a/src/Runner/Version.php b/src/Runner/Version.php
index 59ddf15011d..3bfaaf163bf 100644
--- a/src/Runner/Version.php
+++ b/src/Runner/Version.php
@@ -51,6 +51,11 @@ public static function series(): string
         return implode('.', array_slice(explode('.', $version), 0, 2));
     }
 
+    public static function majorVersionNumber(): int
+    {
+        return (int) explode('.', self::series())[0];
+    }
+
     public static function getVersionString(): string
     {
         return 'PHPUnit ' . self::id() . ' by Sebastian Bergmann and contributors.';
diff --git a/src/TextUI/Command/Commands/VersionCheckCommand.php b/src/TextUI/Command/Commands/VersionCheckCommand.php
index bdb135dc21c..30a3c56ac3d 100644
--- a/src/TextUI/Command/Commands/VersionCheckCommand.php
+++ b/src/TextUI/Command/Commands/VersionCheckCommand.php
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
  */
 namespace PHPUnit\TextUI\Command;
 
-use function explode;
 use function file_get_contents;
 use function sprintf;
 use function version_compare;
@@ -25,7 +24,7 @@ final class VersionCheckCommand implements Command
     public function execute(): Result
     {
         $latestVersion           = file_get_contents('https://phar.phpunit.de/latest-version-of/phpunit');
-        $latestCompatibleVersion = file_get_contents('https://phar.phpunit.de/latest-version-of/phpunit-' . explode('.', Version::series())[0]);
+        $latestCompatibleVersion = file_get_contents('https://phar.phpunit.de/latest-version-of/phpunit-' . Version::majorVersionNumber());
 
         $notLatest           = version_compare($latestVersion, Version::id(), '>');
         $notLatestCompatible = version_compare($latestCompatibleVersion, Version::id(), '>');