diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index e1d5774b..644e3eba 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 SUBDIRS=lib src
-EXTRA_DIST=server.html
+EXTRA_DIST=server.html VERSION
 docs:
 	doxygen ./Doxyfile > /dev/null
 .PHONY: docs
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 4837fbcc..289a67fe 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 AC_PREREQ([2.60])
 AC_INIT([MistServer],
-	m4_esyscmd([git describe --tags | tr -d '\n']),
+	m4_esyscmd([git rev-parse 2>/dev/null&&git describe --tags > VERSION;tr -d '\n' < VERSION]),
 	[contact@ddvtech.com])
 AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR([src/buffer.cpp])
 # foreign: no need for NEWS or INSTALL files