diff --git a/scripts/manifest_fixer.py b/scripts/manifest_fixer.py
index 2da29ee..58079aa 100755
--- a/scripts/manifest_fixer.py
+++ b/scripts/manifest_fixer.py
@@ -70,6 +70,8 @@
   parser.add_argument('--test-only', dest='test_only', action='store_true',
                       help=('adds testOnly="true" attribute to application. Assign true value if application elem '
                             'already has a testOnly attribute.'))
+  parser.add_argument('--override-placeholder-version', dest='new_version',
+                      help='Overrides the versionCode if it\'s set to the placeholder value of 0')
   parser.add_argument('input', help='input AndroidManifest.xml file')
   parser.add_argument('output', help='output AndroidManifest.xml file')
   return parser.parse_args()
@@ -362,6 +364,19 @@
       if max_attr and max_attr.value == 'current':
         max_attr.value = max_sdk_version
 
+def override_placeholder_version(doc, new_version):
+  """Replace the versionCode attribute value if it\'s currently
+  set to the placeholder version of 0.
+
+  Args:
+    doc: The XML document.  May be modified by this function.
+    new_version: The new version to set if versionCode is equal to 0.
+  """
+  manifest = parse_manifest(doc)
+  version = manifest.getAttribute("android:versionCode")
+  if (version == '0'):
+    manifest.setAttribute("android:versionCode", new_version)
+
 def main():
   """Program entry point."""
   try:
@@ -401,6 +416,9 @@
     if args.extract_native_libs is not None:
       add_extract_native_libs(doc, args.extract_native_libs)
 
+    if args.new_version:
+      override_placeholder_version(doc, args.new_version)
+
     with open(args.output, 'w') as f:
       write_xml(f, doc)
 
diff --git a/scripts/manifest_fixer_test.py b/scripts/manifest_fixer_test.py
index dad104a..0a62b10 100755
--- a/scripts/manifest_fixer_test.py
+++ b/scripts/manifest_fixer_test.py
@@ -643,5 +643,39 @@
     output = self.run_test(manifest_input, '9000')
     self.assert_xml_equal(output, expected)
 
+class OverrideDefaultVersionTest(unittest.TestCase):
+  """Unit tests for override_default_version function."""
+
+  def assert_xml_equal(self, output, expected):
+    self.assertEqual(ET.canonicalize(output), ET.canonicalize(expected))
+
+  def run_test(self, input_manifest, version):
+    doc = minidom.parseString(input_manifest)
+    manifest_fixer.override_placeholder_version(doc, version)
+    output = io.StringIO()
+    manifest_fixer.write_xml(output, doc)
+    return output.getvalue()
+
+  manifest_tmpl = (
+      '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>\n'
+      '<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android" '
+      'android:versionCode="%s">\n'
+      '</manifest>\n')
+
+  def test_doesnt_override_existing_version(self):
+    """Tests that an existing version is not overridden"""
+    manifest_input = self.manifest_tmpl % '12345'
+    expected = manifest_input
+    output = self.run_test(manifest_input, '67890')
+    self.assert_xml_equal(output, expected)
+
+  def test_overrides_default_version(self):
+    """Tests that a default version is overridden"""
+    manifest_input = self.manifest_tmpl % '0'
+    expected = self.manifest_tmpl % '67890'
+    output = self.run_test(manifest_input, '67890')
+    self.assert_xml_equal(output, expected)
+
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
   unittest.main(verbosity=2)