diff --git a/paparazzi_git_version b/paparazzi_git_version
deleted file mode 100755
index 5f68b4610b..0000000000
--- a/paparazzi_git_version
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-git describe --match "v[0-9].[0-9]*" --dirty --always
diff --git a/paparazzi_version b/paparazzi_version
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..521a99e14a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/paparazzi_version
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+DEF_VER=v4.1_unstable
+
+# First try git describe (if running on a git repo),
+# then use default version from above (for release tarballs).
+if test -d .git -o -f .git
+then
+	VN=$(git describe --match "v[0-9].[0-9]*" --dirty --always --long)
+else
+	VN="$DEF_VER"
+fi
+
+echo $VN