diff --git a/common/net_api.h b/common/net_api.h
index 3a8229df..db2c7c10 100644
--- a/common/net_api.h
+++ b/common/net_api.h
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 // Set this flag for things like broadcast requests, etc. where the engine should not
 // kill the request hook after receiving the first response
 #define FNETAPI_MULTIPLE_RESPONSE		( 1<<0 )
+#define FNETAPI_LEGACY_PROTOCOL			( 1<<1 ) // xash3d-fwgs extension
 
 struct net_response_s;
 typedef void (*net_api_response_func_t) ( struct net_response_s *response );
diff --git a/engine/client/cl_game.c b/engine/client/cl_game.c
index 400974f3..32455128 100644
--- a/engine/client/cl_game.c
+++ b/engine/client/cl_game.c
@@ -3467,7 +3467,7 @@ static void GAME_EXPORT NetAPI_SendRequest( int context, int request, int flags,
 	nr->flags = flags;
 
 	// local servers request
-	Q_snprintf( req, sizeof( req ), "netinfo %i %i %i", PROTOCOL_VERSION, context, request );
+	Q_snprintf( req, sizeof( req ), "netinfo %i %i %i", FBitSet( flags, FNETAPI_LEGACY_PROTOCOL ) ? PROTOCOL_LEGACY_VERSION : PROTOCOL_VERSION, context, request );
 	Netchan_OutOfBandPrint( NS_CLIENT, nr->resp.remote_address, "%s", req );
 }