diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 851d4a2..543edf4 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -438,9 +438,9 @@ SET(MAIKO_HDRS
     inc/z2defs.h
 )
 
-ADD_CUSTOM_TARGET(gen-vdate
+ADD_CUSTOM_COMMAND(OUTPUT vdate.c
   COMMAND ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/bin/mkvdate > vdate.c
-  BYPRODUCTS vdate.c
+  DEPENDS ${MAIKO_SRCS} ${MAIKO_HDRS} ${MAIKO_DISPLAY_X11_SRCS} ${MAIKO_DISPLAY_X11_HDRS} ${MAIKO_DISPLAY_SDL_SRCS} ${MAIKO_DISPLAY_SDL_HDRS} 
 )
 
 ADD_EXECUTABLE(lde src/ldeboot.c src/unixfork.c)
diff --git a/bin/mkvdate b/bin/mkvdate
index 2c4b514..b440183 100755
--- a/bin/mkvdate
+++ b/bin/mkvdate
@@ -1,6 +1,22 @@
 #!/bin/sh
+if command -v "git" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    MAIKO_REV="$(git status --porcelain)"
+    if [ $? == 0 ]; then
+	if [ ! -z "$(git status --porcelain)" ]; then
+            MAIKO_REV="$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)-dirty"
+	else
+	    MAIKO_REV="$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)"
+	fi
+    else
+	MAIKO_REV="none"
+    fi
+else
+    MAIKO_REV = "none"
+fi
 cat <<EOF
 #include <time.h>
 extern const time_t MDate;
 const time_t MDate = $(date +%s);
+extern const char *MaikoGitVersion;
+const char *MaikoGitVersion = "maiko git version: $MAIKO_REV";
 EOF