diff --git a/extensions/ql-vscode/CHANGELOG.md b/extensions/ql-vscode/CHANGELOG.md
index dfa7b8e711b..9dc6fd8f3e7 100644
--- a/extensions/ql-vscode/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/extensions/ql-vscode/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 ## [UNRELEASED]
 
+- Display CodeQL CLI version being downloaded during an upgrade. [#862](https://github.com/github/vscode-codeql/pull/862)
+
 ## 1.4.8 - 05 May 2021
 
 - Copy version information to the clipboard when a user clicks the CodeQL section of the status bar. [#845](https://github.com/github/vscode-codeql/pull/845)
diff --git a/extensions/ql-vscode/src/distribution.ts b/extensions/ql-vscode/src/distribution.ts
index 2476ff3a5b6..5844dcf4fe1 100644
--- a/extensions/ql-vscode/src/distribution.ts
+++ b/extensions/ql-vscode/src/distribution.ts
@@ -345,7 +345,7 @@ class ExtensionSpecificDistributionManager {
 
       const contentLength = assetStream.headers.get('content-length');
       const totalNumBytes = contentLength ? parseInt(contentLength, 10) : undefined;
-      reportStreamProgress(assetStream.body, 'Downloading CodeQL CLI…', totalNumBytes, progressCallback);
+      reportStreamProgress(assetStream.body, `Downloading CodeQL CLI ${release.name}…`, totalNumBytes, progressCallback);
 
       await new Promise((resolve, reject) =>
         assetStream.body.pipe(archiveFile)