diff --git a/src/core/server/saved_objects/migrations/core/document_migrator.test.ts b/src/core/server/saved_objects/migrations/core/document_migrator.test.ts
index 65295d10f8a85..776c7b195922e 100644
--- a/src/core/server/saved_objects/migrations/core/document_migrator.test.ts
+++ b/src/core/server/saved_objects/migrations/core/document_migrator.test.ts
@@ -206,20 +206,6 @@ describe('DocumentMigrator', () => {
       );
     });
 
-    it('coerces the current Kibana version if it has a hyphen', () => {
-      const validDefinition = {
-        kibanaVersion: '3.2.0-SNAPSHOT',
-        typeRegistry: createRegistry({
-          name: 'foo',
-          convertToMultiNamespaceTypeVersion: '3.2.0',
-          namespaceType: 'multiple',
-        }),
-        minimumConvertVersion: '0.0.0',
-        log: mockLogger,
-      };
-      expect(() => new DocumentMigrator(validDefinition)).not.toThrowError();
-    });
-
     it('validates convertToMultiNamespaceTypeVersion is not used on a patch version', () => {
       const invalidDefinition = {
         kibanaVersion: '3.2.3',
diff --git a/src/core/server/saved_objects/migrations/core/document_migrator.ts b/src/core/server/saved_objects/migrations/core/document_migrator.ts
index ec7b8d68edc99..b61c4cfe967e7 100644
--- a/src/core/server/saved_objects/migrations/core/document_migrator.ts
+++ b/src/core/server/saved_objects/migrations/core/document_migrator.ts
@@ -159,11 +159,10 @@ export class DocumentMigrator implements VersionedTransformer {
    */
   constructor({
     typeRegistry,
-    kibanaVersion: rawKibanaVersion,
+    kibanaVersion,
     minimumConvertVersion = DEFAULT_MINIMUM_CONVERT_VERSION,
     log,
   }: DocumentMigratorOptions) {
-    const kibanaVersion = rawKibanaVersion.split('-')[0]; // coerce a semver-like string (x.y.z-SNAPSHOT) or prerelease version (x.y.z-alpha) to a regular semver (x.y.z)
     validateMigrationDefinition(typeRegistry, kibanaVersion, minimumConvertVersion);
 
     this.documentMigratorOptions = { typeRegistry, kibanaVersion, log };
diff --git a/src/core/server/saved_objects/migrations/kibana/kibana_migrator.test.ts b/src/core/server/saved_objects/migrations/kibana/kibana_migrator.test.ts
index 44fa94e9951a6..811a024c2c7a7 100644
--- a/src/core/server/saved_objects/migrations/kibana/kibana_migrator.test.ts
+++ b/src/core/server/saved_objects/migrations/kibana/kibana_migrator.test.ts
@@ -31,6 +31,14 @@ const createRegistry = (types: Array<Partial<SavedObjectsType>>) => {
 };
 
 describe('KibanaMigrator', () => {
+  describe('constructor', () => {
+    it('coerces the current Kibana version if it has a hyphen', () => {
+      const options = mockOptions();
+      options.kibanaVersion = '3.2.1-SNAPSHOT';
+      const migrator = new KibanaMigrator(options);
+      expect(migrator.kibanaVersion).toEqual('3.2.1');
+    });
+  });
   describe('getActiveMappings', () => {
     it('returns full index mappings w/ core properties', () => {
       const options = mockOptions();
diff --git a/src/core/server/saved_objects/migrations/kibana/kibana_migrator.ts b/src/core/server/saved_objects/migrations/kibana/kibana_migrator.ts
index a3a6758778c2f..5a0a081c5db78 100644
--- a/src/core/server/saved_objects/migrations/kibana/kibana_migrator.ts
+++ b/src/core/server/saved_objects/migrations/kibana/kibana_migrator.ts
@@ -91,13 +91,12 @@ export class KibanaMigrator {
   }: KibanaMigratorOptions) {
     this.client = client;
     this.kibanaConfig = kibanaConfig;
-    this.kibanaVersion = kibanaVersion;
     this.savedObjectsConfig = savedObjectsConfig;
     this.typeRegistry = typeRegistry;
     this.serializer = new SavedObjectsSerializer(this.typeRegistry);
     this.mappingProperties = mergeTypes(this.typeRegistry.getAllTypes());
     this.log = logger;
-    this.kibanaVersion = kibanaVersion;
+    this.kibanaVersion = kibanaVersion.split('-')[0]; // coerce a semver-like string (x.y.z-SNAPSHOT) or prerelease version (x.y.z-alpha) to a regular semver (x.y.z);
     this.documentMigrator = new DocumentMigrator({
       kibanaVersion,
       typeRegistry,