diff --git a/klustakwik.cpp b/klustakwik.cpp
index 25f6cf4..53dfc99 100644
--- a/klustakwik.cpp
+++ b/klustakwik.cpp
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 //
 // Fast clustering using the CEM algorithm with Masks.
 
+#ifndef VERSION
+#define VERSION "0.3.0-nogit"
+#endif
+
 // Disable some Visual Studio warnings
 #define _CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS
 
@@ -1783,6 +1787,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     scalar BestScore = HugeScore;
     integer p, i;
     SetupParams((integer)argc, argv); // This function is defined in parameters.cpp
+	Output("Starting KlustaKwik. Version: %s\n", VERSION);
 	if (RamLimitGB == 0.0)
 	{
 		RamLimitGB = (1.0*total_physical_memory()) / (1024.0*1024.0*1024.0);
diff --git a/makefile b/makefile
index 5612dc4..3d4bdba 100644
--- a/makefile
+++ b/makefile
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ CC = g++
 DEBUG = -g
 PROFILE = -pg
 OPTIMISATIONS = -O3 -ffast-math -march=native
+GIT_VERSION := $(shell git describe --abbrev=4 --dirty --always --tags)
 
 ifdef NOOPENMP
 OPENMPFLAG =
@@ -13,7 +14,13 @@ else
 OPENMPFLAG = -fopenmp
 endif
 
+# If the git command failed, GIT_VERSION will be empty, so don't pass a DVERSION flag (fallback)
+ifeq ($(strip $(GIT_VERSION)),)
 CFLAGS = -Wall -c -Wno-write-strings $(OPTIMISATIONS) $(OPENMPFLAG)
+else
+CFLAGS = -Wall -c -Wno-write-strings $(OPTIMISATIONS) $(OPENMPFLAG) -DVERSION=\"$(GIT_VERSION)\"
+endif
+
 LFLAGS = -Wall $(OPENMPFLAG)
 
 all: executable