diff --git a/src/initsout.c b/src/initsout.c
index e0e3f7a..707bdb8 100644
--- a/src/initsout.c
+++ b/src/initsout.c
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ LispPTR *fixp_value(LispPTR *ptr) {
 #define PAGES_IN_MBYTE 2048
 
 void init_ifpage(int sysout_size) {
-  extern long MDate;
+  extern time_t MDate;
   extern int DisplayType;
   extern int Storage_expanded;
   int new_lastvmem;
@@ -174,8 +174,8 @@ are null terminated instead */
   }
 #endif /* DOS */
 
-  /* sec from Oct-13-87 12:00  It's My birthday(take) */
-  /* MDate may be set by makefile(by mkvdate.c) */
+  /* Days from Oct-13-87 12:00  It's Takeshi's birthday. */
+  /* MDate may be set by vdate.c, generated by mkvdate.c. */
   InterfacePage->rversion = (MDate - 561150000) / (60 * 60 * 24);
 
   /* For DisplayType ,I couldn't insert this line into init_display */
diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index 4f0a5f9..2e09aac 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ int flushing = FALSE; /* see dbprint.h if set, all debug/trace printing will cal
 extern DspInterface currentdsp;
 #endif /* DOS || XWINDOW */
 
-extern long MDate;
+extern time_t MDate;
 extern int nokbdflag;
 extern int nomouseflag;
 #ifdef DOS
@@ -736,11 +736,7 @@ void print_info_lines() {
 #elif (RELEASE == 351)
   printf("Emulator for Medley release 3.51\n");
 #endif /* RELEASE */
-#if defined(MACOSX) || defined(FREEBSD) || defined(LINUX)
-  printf("Creation date: %s", ctime((const time_t *)&MDate));
-#else
   printf("Creation date: %s", ctime(&MDate));
-#endif
 #ifdef LPSOLVE
   printf("Contains lp_solve LP solver.\n");
 #endif /* LPSOLVE */
diff --git a/src/mkvdate.c b/src/mkvdate.c
index ee1605a..6673503 100644
--- a/src/mkvdate.c
+++ b/src/mkvdate.c
@@ -19,8 +19,11 @@
 /*	InterfacePage->rversion.  The version number is the number	*/
 /*	of whole days since 12:00 13-Oct-87 (Takeshi's birthday).	*/
 /*									*/
-/*	This program prints a single line:				*/
-/*		long MDate = <the version number>			*/
+/*	This program prints a single line, with seconds since Unix      */
+/*	epoch, which is converted to days since Takeshi's birthday in   */
+/*	initsout.c:                     				*/
+/*                                                                      */
+/*		time_t MDate = <the version number>			*/
 /*									*/
 /*	That output is redirected to create the file vdate.c, which	*/
 /*	is then compiled as part of the emulator MAKE.			*/
@@ -39,7 +42,7 @@
 int main(void) {
   long dtime;
   time(&dtime);
-  fprintf(stderr, "Mdate :%ld\n", dtime);
+  fprintf(stderr, "MDate: %ld\n", dtime);
   printf("long MDate= %ld;\n", dtime);
   return (0);
 }
@@ -48,11 +51,17 @@ int main(void) {
 int main(void) {
   struct timeval time;
 
+  /* On some Unix platforms, time_t is an int and on
+   * others, it is a long. We'll store it as a time_t,
+   * but print it as a long so that we can avoid format
+   * warnings about differing sized types.
+   */
   gettimeofday(&time, NULL);
-  fprintf(stderr, "Mdate :%ld\n", (long)time.tv_sec);
+  fprintf(stderr, "MDate: %ld\n", (long)time.tv_sec);
   fprintf(stderr, "Version: %s\n", ctime(&time.tv_sec));
 
-  printf("long MDate= %ld;\n", (long)time.tv_sec);
+  printf("#include <time.h>\n");
+  printf("time_t MDate= %ld;\n", (long)time.tv_sec);
   return (0);
 }