diff --git a/src/Makefile.am b/src/Makefile.am
index 9d3bc609..626f7578 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/Makefile.am
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ kvazaar_SOURCES = \
 	yuv_io.h
 kvazaar_LDADD = libkvazaar.la $(LIBS)
 
+kvazaar_CPPFLAGS = -DKVZ_VERSION="`$(srcdir)/../tools/version.sh`"
 
 libkvazaar_la_SOURCES = \
 	bitstream.c \
diff --git a/src/global.h b/src/global.h
index 952bf877..ba97a54f 100644
--- a/src/global.h
+++ b/src/global.h
@@ -181,7 +181,9 @@ typedef int16_t coeff_t;
 
 // NOTE: When making a release, check to see if incrementing libversion in 
 // configure.ac is necessary.
-#define KVZ_VERSION 0.8.3
+#ifndef KVZ_VERSION
+#define KVZ_VERSION v0.8.3
+#endif
 #define VERSION_STRING QUOTE_EXPAND(KVZ_VERSION)
 
 //#define VERBOSE 1
diff --git a/tools/version.sh b/tools/version.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..07dffd30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/version.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+cd "$(dirname "$0")"
+cd ..
+
+if type git >/dev/null 2>/dev/null && [ -d .git ]; then
+    version="$(git describe --dirty --tags --match 'v*')"
+else
+    version="$(awk '/#define KVZ_VERSION/ { print $3 }' src/global.h)"
+fi
+
+printf '%s\n' "$version"