diff --git a/tarsum/tarsum.go b/tarsum/tarsum.go
index e759d1b..baffbc4 100644
--- a/tarsum/tarsum.go
+++ b/tarsum/tarsum.go
@@ -22,6 +22,29 @@ const (
 	buf32K = 32 * 1024
 )
 
+// NewTarSum creates a new interface for calculating a fixed time checksum of a
+// tar archive.
+//
+// This is used for calculating checksums of layers of an image, in some cases
+// including the byte payload of the image's json metadata as well, and for
+// calculating the checksums for buildcache.
+func NewTarSum(r io.Reader, dc bool, v Version) (TarSumInterface, error) {
+	if _, ok := tarSumVersions[v]; !ok {
+		return nil, ErrVersionNotImplemented
+	}
+	return &TarSum{Reader: r, DisableCompression: dc, tarSumVersion: v}, nil
+}
+
+// TarSumInterface is the generic interface for calculating fixed time
+// checksums of a tar archive
+type TarSumInterface interface {
+	io.Reader
+	GetSums() map[string]string
+	Sum([]byte) string
+	Version() Version
+}
+
+// TarSum struct is the structure for a Version0 checksum calculation
 type TarSum struct {
 	io.Reader
 	tarR               *tar.Reader
@@ -35,27 +58,15 @@ type TarSum struct {
 	currentFile        string
 	finished           bool
 	first              bool
-	DisableCompression bool
+	DisableCompression bool    // false by default. When false, the output gzip compressed.
+	tarSumVersion      Version // this field is not exported so it can not be mutated during use
 }
 
-type writeCloseFlusher interface {
-	io.WriteCloser
-	Flush() error
+func (ts TarSum) Version() Version {
+	return ts.tarSumVersion
 }
 
-type nopCloseFlusher struct {
-	io.Writer
-}
-
-func (n *nopCloseFlusher) Close() error {
-	return nil
-}
-
-func (n *nopCloseFlusher) Flush() error {
-	return nil
-}
-
-func (ts *TarSum) encodeHeader(h *tar.Header) error {
+func (ts TarSum) selectHeaders(h *tar.Header, v Version) (set [][2]string) {
 	for _, elem := range [][2]string{
 		{"name", h.Name},
 		{"mode", strconv.Itoa(int(h.Mode))},
@@ -69,9 +80,17 @@ func (ts *TarSum) encodeHeader(h *tar.Header) error {
 		{"gname", h.Gname},
 		{"devmajor", strconv.Itoa(int(h.Devmajor))},
 		{"devminor", strconv.Itoa(int(h.Devminor))},
-		// {"atime", strconv.Itoa(int(h.AccessTime.UTC().Unix()))},
-		// {"ctime", strconv.Itoa(int(h.ChangeTime.UTC().Unix()))},
 	} {
+		if v == VersionDev && elem[0] == "mtime" {
+			continue
+		}
+		set = append(set, elem)
+	}
+	return
+}
+
+func (ts *TarSum) encodeHeader(h *tar.Header) error {
+	for _, elem := range ts.selectHeaders(h, ts.Version()) {
 		if _, err := ts.h.Write([]byte(elem[0] + elem[1])); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -193,7 +212,7 @@ func (ts *TarSum) Sum(extra []byte) string {
 		log.Debugf("-->%s<--", sum)
 		h.Write([]byte(sum))
 	}
-	checksum := "tarsum+sha256:" + hex.EncodeToString(h.Sum(nil))
+	checksum := ts.Version().String() + "+sha256:" + hex.EncodeToString(h.Sum(nil))
 	log.Debugf("checksum processed: %s", checksum)
 	return checksum
 }
diff --git a/tarsum/tarsum_test.go b/tarsum/tarsum_test.go
index f251f09..b921ad2 100644
--- a/tarsum/tarsum_test.go
+++ b/tarsum/tarsum_test.go
@@ -18,13 +18,20 @@ type testLayer struct {
 	jsonfile string
 	gzip     bool
 	tarsum   string
+	version  Version
 }
 
 var testLayers = []testLayer{
 	{
 		filename: "testdata/46af0962ab5afeb5ce6740d4d91652e69206fc991fd5328c1a94d364ad00e457/layer.tar",
 		jsonfile: "testdata/46af0962ab5afeb5ce6740d4d91652e69206fc991fd5328c1a94d364ad00e457/json",
+		version:  Version0,
 		tarsum:   "tarsum+sha256:e58fcf7418d4390dec8e8fb69d88c06ec07039d651fedd3aa72af9972e7d046b"},
+	{
+		filename: "testdata/46af0962ab5afeb5ce6740d4d91652e69206fc991fd5328c1a94d364ad00e457/layer.tar",
+		jsonfile: "testdata/46af0962ab5afeb5ce6740d4d91652e69206fc991fd5328c1a94d364ad00e457/json",
+		version:  VersionDev,
+		tarsum:   "tarsum.dev+sha256:486b86e25c4db4551228154848bc4663b15dd95784b1588980f4ba1cb42e83e9"},
 	{
 		filename: "testdata/46af0962ab5afeb5ce6740d4d91652e69206fc991fd5328c1a94d364ad00e457/layer.tar",
 		jsonfile: "testdata/46af0962ab5afeb5ce6740d4d91652e69206fc991fd5328c1a94d364ad00e457/json",
@@ -118,7 +125,11 @@ func TestTarSums(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 
 		//                                  double negatives!
-		ts := &TarSum{Reader: fh, DisableCompression: !layer.gzip}
+		ts, err := NewTarSum(fh, !layer.gzip, layer.version)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("%q :: %q", err, layer.filename)
+			continue
+		}
 		_, err = io.Copy(ioutil.Discard, ts)
 		if err != nil {
 			t.Errorf("failed to copy from %s: %s", layer.filename, err)
@@ -160,7 +171,11 @@ func Benchmark9kTar(b *testing.B) {
 	b.SetBytes(n)
 	b.ResetTimer()
 	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
-		ts := &TarSum{Reader: buf, DisableCompression: true}
+		ts, err := NewTarSum(buf, true, Version0)
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Error(err)
+			return
+		}
 		io.Copy(ioutil.Discard, ts)
 		ts.Sum(nil)
 	}
@@ -179,7 +194,11 @@ func Benchmark9kTarGzip(b *testing.B) {
 	b.SetBytes(n)
 	b.ResetTimer()
 	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
-		ts := &TarSum{Reader: buf, DisableCompression: false}
+		ts, err := NewTarSum(buf, false, Version0)
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Error(err)
+			return
+		}
 		io.Copy(ioutil.Discard, ts)
 		ts.Sum(nil)
 	}
@@ -217,7 +236,11 @@ func benchmarkTar(b *testing.B, opts sizedOptions, isGzip bool) {
 	b.SetBytes(opts.size * opts.num)
 	b.ResetTimer()
 	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
-		ts := &TarSum{Reader: fh, DisableCompression: !isGzip}
+		ts, err := NewTarSum(fh, !isGzip, Version0)
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Error(err)
+			return
+		}
 		io.Copy(ioutil.Discard, ts)
 		ts.Sum(nil)
 		fh.Seek(0, 0)
diff --git a/tarsum/versioning.go b/tarsum/versioning.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e1161fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tarsum/versioning.go
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+package tarsum
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// versioning of the TarSum algorithm
+// based on the prefix of the hash used
+// i.e. "tarsum+sha256:e58fcf7418d4390dec8e8fb69d88c06ec07039d651fedd3aa72af9972e7d046b"
+type Version int
+
+const (
+	// Prefix of "tarsum"
+	Version0 Version = iota
+	// Prefix of "tarsum.dev"
+	// NOTE: this variable will be of an unsettled next-version of the TarSum calculation
+	VersionDev
+)
+
+// Get a list of all known tarsum Version
+func GetVersions() []Version {
+	v := []Version{}
+	for k := range tarSumVersions {
+		v = append(v, k)
+	}
+	return v
+}
+
+var tarSumVersions = map[Version]string{
+	0: "tarsum",
+	1: "tarsum.dev",
+}
+
+func (tsv Version) String() string {
+	return tarSumVersions[tsv]
+}
+
+// GetVersionFromTarsum returns the Version from the provided string
+func GetVersionFromTarsum(tarsum string) (Version, error) {
+	tsv := tarsum
+	if strings.Contains(tarsum, "+") {
+		tsv = strings.SplitN(tarsum, "+", 2)[0]
+	}
+	for v, s := range tarSumVersions {
+		if s == tsv {
+			return v, nil
+		}
+	}
+	return -1, ErrNotVersion
+}
+
+var (
+	ErrNotVersion            = errors.New("string does not include a TarSum Version")
+	ErrVersionNotImplemented = errors.New("TarSum Version is not yet implemented")
+)
diff --git a/tarsum/versioning_test.go b/tarsum/versioning_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b851c3b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tarsum/versioning_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+package tarsum
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+)
+
+func TestVersion(t *testing.T) {
+	expected := "tarsum"
+	var v Version
+	if v.String() != expected {
+		t.Errorf("expected %q, got %q", expected, v.String())
+	}
+
+	expected = "tarsum.dev"
+	v = 1
+	if v.String() != expected {
+		t.Errorf("expected %q, got %q", expected, v.String())
+	}
+}
+
+func TestGetVersion(t *testing.T) {
+	testSet := []struct {
+		Str      string
+		Expected Version
+	}{
+		{"tarsum+sha256:e58fcf7418d4390dec8e8fb69d88c06ec07039d651fedd3aa72af9972e7d046b", Version0},
+		{"tarsum+sha256", Version0},
+		{"tarsum", Version0},
+		{"tarsum.dev", VersionDev},
+		{"tarsum.dev+sha256:deadbeef", VersionDev},
+	}
+
+	for _, ts := range testSet {
+		v, err := GetVersionFromTarsum(ts.Str)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Fatalf("%q : %s", err, ts.Str)
+		}
+		if v != ts.Expected {
+			t.Errorf("expected %d (%q), got %d (%q)", ts.Expected, ts.Expected, v, v)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// test one that does not exist, to ensure it errors
+	str := "weak+md5:abcdeabcde"
+	_, err := GetVersionFromTarsum(str)
+	if err != ErrNotVersion {
+		t.Fatalf("%q : %s", err, str)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/tarsum/writercloser.go b/tarsum/writercloser.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9727ecd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tarsum/writercloser.go
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+package tarsum
+
+import (
+	"io"
+)
+
+type writeCloseFlusher interface {
+	io.WriteCloser
+	Flush() error
+}
+
+type nopCloseFlusher struct {
+	io.Writer
+}
+
+func (n *nopCloseFlusher) Close() error {
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (n *nopCloseFlusher) Flush() error {
+	return nil
+}