diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index c9416bb..1db11da 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
-sunxi-fexc
 bin2fex
 fex2bin
 sunxi-bootinfo
 sunxi-fel
-sunxi-pio
+sunxi-fexc
 sunxi-nand-part
+sunxi-pio
+version.h
 *.o
 *.swp
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 4f8ee35..975bf67 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ all: tools target-tools
 tools: $(TOOLS) $(FEXC_LINKS)
 target-tools: $(TARGET_TOOLS)
 
-misc: $(MISC_TOOLS)
+misc: version.h $(MISC_TOOLS)
 
 binfiles: $(BINFILES)
 
@@ -85,9 +85,9 @@ install-target-tools: $(TARGET_TOOLS)
 
 clean:
 	@rm -vf $(TOOLS) $(FEXC_LINKS) $(TARGET_TOOLS) $(MISC_TOOLS)
-	@rm -vf *.o *.elf *.sunxi *.bin *.nm *.orig
+	@rm -vf version.h *.o *.elf *.sunxi *.bin *.nm *.orig
 
-$(TOOLS) $(TARGET_TOOLS): Makefile common.h
+$(TOOLS) $(TARGET_TOOLS): Makefile common.h version.h
 
 fex2bin bin2fex: sunxi-fexc
 	ln -nsf $< $@
@@ -158,7 +158,10 @@ sunxi-meminfo: meminfo.c
 sunxi-script_extractor: script_extractor.c
 	$(CROSS_COMPILE)gcc -g -O0 -Wall -static -o $@ $^
 
+version.h:
+	@./autoversion.sh > $@
+
 .gitignore: Makefile
-	@for x in $(TOOLS) $(FEXC_LINKS) $(TARGET_TOOLS) '*.o' '*.swp'; do \
+	@for x in $(TOOLS) $(FEXC_LINKS) $(TARGET_TOOLS) version.h '*.o' '*.swp'; do \
 		echo "$$x"; \
-	done > $@
+	done | sort -V > $@
diff --git a/autoversion.sh b/autoversion.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..35f548b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/autoversion.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+#
+# This script auto-updates a VERSION string definition.
+# It outputs informational messages to stderr, while the actual
+# output (on stdout) can easily be redirected to a file.
+#
+
+LATEST_RELEASE="v1.3"
+
+if VER=`git describe --tags --dirty --always`; then
+	echo "Setting version information: ${VER}" >&2
+else
+	VER=${LATEST_RELEASE}
+	echo "Unable to determine current version (using \"${VER}\" as fallback)" >&2
+fi
+echo >&2
+
+echo "/* Auto-generated information. DO NOT EDIT */"
+echo "#define VERSION \"${VER}\""
diff --git a/common.h b/common.h
index 66ca22e..488d1d4 100644
--- a/common.h
+++ b/common.h
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
 
 #include <stddef.h> /* offsetof */
 
+#include "version.h" /* auto-generated VERSION string */
+
 /** flag function argument as unused */
 #ifdef UNUSED
 #elif defined(__GNUC__)