diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 69d4d4a9def..1b69ded265e 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -7,7 +7,11 @@ repository = "https://github.com/near/nearcore"
 license = "MIT OR Apache-2.0"
 
 [workspace.metadata.workspaces]
-# shared version of all public crates in the workspace
+# Shared version of all public crates in the workspace.
+# This is only used for crates that are not stable.
+# Most crates are not stable on purpose, as maintaining API compatibility is a
+# significant developer time expense. Please think thoroughly before adding
+# anything to the list of stable crates.
 version = "0.17.0"
 exclude = ["neard"]
 
diff --git a/chain/chain-primitives/Cargo.toml b/chain/chain-primitives/Cargo.toml
index cb92c3075ca..70dc143883d 100644
--- a/chain/chain-primitives/Cargo.toml
+++ b/chain/chain-primitives/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ name = "near-chain-primitives"
 version.workspace = true
 authors.workspace = true
 edition.workspace = true
-rust-version.workspace = true
 description = "This crate hosts NEAR chain-related error types"
 repository.workspace = true
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/chain/chunks-primitives/Cargo.toml b/chain/chunks-primitives/Cargo.toml
index 8b102524e01..a0307d315a4 100644
--- a/chain/chunks-primitives/Cargo.toml
+++ b/chain/chunks-primitives/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ name = "near-chunks-primitives"
 version.workspace = true
 authors.workspace = true
 edition.workspace = true
-rust-version.workspace = true
 description = "This crate hosts NEAR chunks-related error types"
 repository.workspace = true
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/chain/client-primitives/Cargo.toml b/chain/client-primitives/Cargo.toml
index f0b72459468..abdc92dbcdc 100644
--- a/chain/client-primitives/Cargo.toml
+++ b/chain/client-primitives/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ name = "near-client-primitives"
 version.workspace = true
 authors.workspace = true
 edition.workspace = true
-rust-version.workspace = true
 description = "This crate hosts NEAR client-related error types"
 repository.workspace = true
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/chain/indexer-primitives/Cargo.toml b/chain/indexer-primitives/Cargo.toml
index 2b962a793bb..9c8ee8ec5d4 100644
--- a/chain/indexer-primitives/Cargo.toml
+++ b/chain/indexer-primitives/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ name = "near-indexer-primitives"
 version.workspace = true
 authors.workspace = true
 edition.workspace = true
-rust-version.workspace = true
 description = "This crate hosts structures for the NEAR Indexer Framework types"
 repository.workspace = true
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/chain/jsonrpc-primitives/Cargo.toml b/chain/jsonrpc-primitives/Cargo.toml
index 0f1e5b2e423..6c83b93ee2a 100644
--- a/chain/jsonrpc-primitives/Cargo.toml
+++ b/chain/jsonrpc-primitives/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ name = "near-jsonrpc-primitives"
 version.workspace = true
 authors.workspace = true
 edition.workspace = true
-rust-version.workspace = true
 description = "This crate hosts structures for the NEAR JSON RPC Requests, Responses and Error types"
 repository.workspace = true
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/core/chain-configs/Cargo.toml b/core/chain-configs/Cargo.toml
index b61d88082bc..37d41a17c91 100644
--- a/core/chain-configs/Cargo.toml
+++ b/core/chain-configs/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ name = "near-chain-configs"
 version.workspace = true
 authors.workspace = true
 edition.workspace = true
-rust-version.workspace = true
 description = "This crate provides typed interfaces to the NEAR Genesis and Chain Configs"
 repository.workspace = true
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/core/crypto/Cargo.toml b/core/crypto/Cargo.toml
index ebb3dfa349f..4bf25ae5039 100644
--- a/core/crypto/Cargo.toml
+++ b/core/crypto/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ name = "near-crypto"
 version.workspace = true
 authors.workspace = true
 edition.workspace = true
-rust-version.workspace = true
 description = "This is an internal crate for common cryptographic types"
 repository.workspace = true
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/core/dyn-configs/Cargo.toml b/core/dyn-configs/Cargo.toml
index 57c12dc3646..d6b573009fd 100644
--- a/core/dyn-configs/Cargo.toml
+++ b/core/dyn-configs/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ name = "near-dyn-configs"
 version.workspace = true
 authors.workspace = true
 edition.workspace = true
-rust-version.workspace = true
 description = "Dynamic configure helpers for the near codebase"
 repository.workspace = true
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/core/o11y/Cargo.toml b/core/o11y/Cargo.toml
index 20373a3f3d0..36a4bc27650 100644
--- a/core/o11y/Cargo.toml
+++ b/core/o11y/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ name = "near-o11y"
 version.workspace = true
 authors.workspace = true
 edition.workspace = true
-rust-version.workspace = true
 description = "Observability helpers for the near codebase"
 repository.workspace = true
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/core/primitives-core/Cargo.toml b/core/primitives-core/Cargo.toml
index 457a9d50f11..1a46b39ecd8 100644
--- a/core/primitives-core/Cargo.toml
+++ b/core/primitives-core/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ name = "near-primitives-core"
 version.workspace = true
 authors.workspace = true
 edition.workspace = true
-rust-version.workspace = true
 description = "This crate provides the core set of primitives used by other nearcore crates including near-primitives"
 repository.workspace = true
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/core/primitives/Cargo.toml b/core/primitives/Cargo.toml
index 84258f3d2f3..57025c21000 100644
--- a/core/primitives/Cargo.toml
+++ b/core/primitives/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ name = "near-primitives"
 version.workspace = true
 authors.workspace = true
 edition.workspace = true
-rust-version.workspace = true
 description = "This crate provides the base set of primitives used by other nearcore crates"
 repository.workspace = true
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/runtime/near-vm-runner/Cargo.toml b/runtime/near-vm-runner/Cargo.toml
index edbe3494290..7ae9ee63b34 100644
--- a/runtime/near-vm-runner/Cargo.toml
+++ b/runtime/near-vm-runner/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ name = "near-vm-runner"
 version.workspace = true
 authors.workspace = true
 edition.workspace = true
-rust-version.workspace = true
 description = "This crate implements the specification of the interface that Near blockchain exposes to the smart contracts."
 repository.workspace = true
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/runtime/near-vm/compiler-singlepass/Cargo.toml b/runtime/near-vm/compiler-singlepass/Cargo.toml
index 17c1a5e5ce1..c08575b5f39 100644
--- a/runtime/near-vm/compiler-singlepass/Cargo.toml
+++ b/runtime/near-vm/compiler-singlepass/Cargo.toml
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ license = "MIT"
 readme = "README.md"
 edition = "2021"
 publish = true
-rust-version.workspace = true
 
 [lints]
 workspace = true
diff --git a/runtime/near-vm/compiler/Cargo.toml b/runtime/near-vm/compiler/Cargo.toml
index 3f9d13a4689..3f4ac39c0cd 100644
--- a/runtime/near-vm/compiler/Cargo.toml
+++ b/runtime/near-vm/compiler/Cargo.toml
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ license = "MIT OR Apache-2.0 WITH LLVM-exception"
 readme = "README.md"
 edition = "2021"
 publish = true
-rust-version.workspace = true
 
 [lints]
 workspace = true
diff --git a/runtime/near-vm/engine/Cargo.toml b/runtime/near-vm/engine/Cargo.toml
index 27b727d3fe9..ac112e7dea3 100644
--- a/runtime/near-vm/engine/Cargo.toml
+++ b/runtime/near-vm/engine/Cargo.toml
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ license = "MIT OR Apache-2.0 WITH LLVM-exception "
 readme = "README.md"
 edition = "2021"
 publish = true
-rust-version.workspace = true
 
 [lints]
 workspace = true
diff --git a/runtime/near-vm/types/Cargo.toml b/runtime/near-vm/types/Cargo.toml
index 96a393d2812..9ce7cf317b2 100644
--- a/runtime/near-vm/types/Cargo.toml
+++ b/runtime/near-vm/types/Cargo.toml
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ license = "MIT OR Apache-2.0 WITH LLVM-exception"
 readme = "README.md"
 edition = "2021"
 publish = true
-rust-version.workspace = true
 
 [lints]
 workspace = true
diff --git a/runtime/near-vm/vm/Cargo.toml b/runtime/near-vm/vm/Cargo.toml
index 7125346cb46..6dfbc451f5f 100644
--- a/runtime/near-vm/vm/Cargo.toml
+++ b/runtime/near-vm/vm/Cargo.toml
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ license = "MIT OR Apache-2.0 WITH LLVM-exception"
 readme = "README.md"
 edition = "2021"
 publish = true
-rust-version.workspace = true
 
 [lints]
 workspace = true
diff --git a/tools/rpctypegen/core/Cargo.toml b/tools/rpctypegen/core/Cargo.toml
index c9dc8b47539..4274587dbff 100644
--- a/tools/rpctypegen/core/Cargo.toml
+++ b/tools/rpctypegen/core/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ name = "near-rpc-error-core"
 version.workspace = true
 authors.workspace = true
 edition.workspace = true
-rust-version.workspace = true
 description = "This crate generates schema for Rust structs which can be used by TypeScript."
 repository.workspace = true
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/tools/rpctypegen/macro/Cargo.toml b/tools/rpctypegen/macro/Cargo.toml
index 8cfd58f2f2d..d5e44851c3c 100644
--- a/tools/rpctypegen/macro/Cargo.toml
+++ b/tools/rpctypegen/macro/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ name = "near-rpc-error-macro"
 version.workspace = true
 authors.workspace = true
 edition.workspace = true
-rust-version.workspace = true
 description = "This crate generates schema for Rust structs which can be used by TypeScript."
 repository.workspace = true
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/tools/themis/src/rules.rs b/tools/themis/src/rules.rs
index e36916e305f..9ca56a99c9d 100644
--- a/tools/themis/src/rules.rs
+++ b/tools/themis/src/rules.rs
@@ -25,21 +25,24 @@ pub fn has_publish_spec(workspace: &Workspace) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     Ok(())
 }
 
-/// Ensure all crates specify a MSRV if they are publishable
+/// Ensure all publishable crates do not both specify version and rust-version as being workspace-wide
 pub fn has_rust_version(workspace: &Workspace) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     let outliers: Vec<_> = workspace
         .members
         .iter()
         .filter(|pkg| {
-            pkg.parsed.rust_version.is_none()
-                && pkg.manifest.read(&["package", "publish"]) != Some(&toml::Value::Boolean(false))
+            pkg.manifest.read(&["package", "publish"]) == Some(&toml::Value::Boolean(true))
+                && pkg.manifest.read(&["package", "version", "workspace"])
+                    == Some(&toml::Value::Boolean(true))
+                && pkg.manifest.read(&["package", "rust-version", "workspace"])
+                    == Some(&toml::Value::Boolean(true))
         })
         .map(|pkg| Outlier { path: pkg.parsed.manifest_path.clone(), found: None, extra: None })
         .collect();
 
     if !outliers.is_empty() {
         bail!(ComplianceError {
-            msg: "These packages should specify a Minimum Supported Rust Version (MSRV)"
+            msg: "These publishable packages have Minimum Supported Rust Version (MSRV) and version both set from workspace"
                 .to_string(),
             expected: None,
             outliers,
diff --git a/utils/config/Cargo.toml b/utils/config/Cargo.toml
index f08e15a1356..d3a2d278b34 100644
--- a/utils/config/Cargo.toml
+++ b/utils/config/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ name = "near-config-utils"
 version.workspace = true
 authors.workspace = true
 edition.workspace = true
-rust-version.workspace = true
 description = "This is an internal crate to provide utils for reading config files"
 repository.workspace = true
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/utils/fmt/Cargo.toml b/utils/fmt/Cargo.toml
index 1cf0b0c94ee..e6e336925da 100644
--- a/utils/fmt/Cargo.toml
+++ b/utils/fmt/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ name = "near-fmt"
 version.workspace = true
 authors.workspace = true
 edition.workspace = true
-rust-version.workspace = true
 description = "Helpers for pretty formatting."
 repository.workspace = true
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/utils/near-cache/Cargo.toml b/utils/near-cache/Cargo.toml
index f14347753d8..bdf0aa053d2 100644
--- a/utils/near-cache/Cargo.toml
+++ b/utils/near-cache/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ name = "near-cache"
 version.workspace = true
 authors.workspace = true
 edition.workspace = true
-rust-version.workspace = true
 description = "do not use this, new versions can stop being published at literally any time"
 repository.workspace = true
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/utils/near-stable-hasher/Cargo.toml b/utils/near-stable-hasher/Cargo.toml
index d9c67aef477..21e672b7c75 100644
--- a/utils/near-stable-hasher/Cargo.toml
+++ b/utils/near-stable-hasher/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ name = "near-stable-hasher"
 version.workspace = true
 authors.workspace = true
 edition.workspace = true
-rust-version.workspace = true
 description = "`near-stable-hasher` is a library that is essentially a wrapper around, now deprecated, `std::hash::SipHasher`."
 repository.workspace = true
 license.workspace = true
diff --git a/utils/stdx/Cargo.toml b/utils/stdx/Cargo.toml
index 281b90cee41..8f24e3c0480 100644
--- a/utils/stdx/Cargo.toml
+++ b/utils/stdx/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ name = "near-stdx"
 version.workspace = true
 authors.workspace = true
 edition.workspace = true
-rust-version.workspace = true
 description = "This crate contains polyfills which should really be in std, but currently aren't for one reason or another."
 repository.workspace = true
 license.workspace = true