diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d368953..415e2b2 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 .PHONY: all build clean
 
-PROJECT_NAME = $(shell head -n1 go.mod | cut -d'/' -f2)
-
+PROJECT_NAME  = $(shell head -n1 go.mod | cut -d'/' -f2)
+VERSION      ?= dev
 
 all: build
 
 # Build static executable
 build:
-	CGO_ENABLED=0 go build
+	CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -ldflags "-X main.VERSION=${VERSION}"
 	strip $(PROJECT_NAME)
 
 clean:
diff --git a/app_exporter.go b/app_exporter.go
index ef46d36..44875ff 100644
--- a/app_exporter.go
+++ b/app_exporter.go
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ import (
 	"recycled.cloud/app-exporter/apps"
 )
 
-const VERSION = "0.1.0"
+// var so it can be overridden at build time
+var VERSION = "dev"
 
 const LISTEN_ADDR = ":9404"
 const INTERVAL = 24 * time.Hour