diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index ff342ca06..62ef9f8b3 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -5,12 +5,14 @@ dnl         "0" for stable, supported releases
 dnl these should be the only two lines you need to change
 m4_define([user_agent_prefix],[1.61+])
 m4_define([peer_id_prefix],[-TR161Z-])
+m4_define([svn_revision], esyscmd([sh -c "svnversion | sed -r 's/([0-9]+).*/\1/'"]))
 
 AC_INIT([transmission],
         [user_agent_prefix],
         [http://trac.transmissionbt.com/newticket])
 AC_SUBST(USERAGENT_PREFIX,[user_agent_prefix])
 AC_SUBST(PEERID_PREFIX,[peer_id_prefix])
+AC_SUBST(SVN_REVISION,[svn_revision])
 
 AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR([m4])
 
@@ -352,6 +354,7 @@ AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile
                  daemon/Makefile
                  doc/Makefile
                  libtransmission/Makefile
+                 libtransmission/version.h
                  third-party/Makefile
                  third-party/miniupnp/Makefile
                  third-party/libnatpmp/Makefile
diff --git a/libtransmission/Makefile.am b/libtransmission/Makefile.am
index 5b2ac490c..47edacde5 100644
--- a/libtransmission/Makefile.am
+++ b/libtransmission/Makefile.am
@@ -102,6 +102,7 @@ noinst_HEADERS = \
     upnp.h \
     utils.h \
     verify.h \
+    version.h \
     web.h \
     webseed.h
 
@@ -169,22 +170,3 @@ peer_msgs_test_LDFLAGS = ${apps_ldflags}
 utils_test_SOURCES = utils-test.c
 utils_test_LDADD = ${apps_ldadd}
 utils_test_LDFLAGS = ${apps_ldflags}
-
-
-
-clean-local:
-	if test -d .svn; then if test -e version.h; then rm version.h; fi; fi;
-
-EXTRA_libtransmission_a_SOURCES = \
-    version.h
-
-BUILT_SOURCES = \
-    version.h
-
-version.h:
-	echo '#define PEERID_PREFIX         "'@PEERID_PREFIX@'"' > version.h
-	echo '#define USERAGENT_PREFIX      "'@USERAGENT_PREFIX@'"' >> version.h
-	echo '#define SVN_REVISION          "'`svnversion | sed -r 's/([0-9]+).*/\1/'`'"' >> version.h
-	echo '#define SVN_REVISION_NUM      '`svnversion | sed -r 's/([0-9]+).*/\1/'`'' >> version.h
-	echo '#define SHORT_VERSION_STRING  "'@USERAGENT_PREFIX@'"' >> version.h
-	echo '#define LONG_VERSION_STRING   "'@USERAGENT_PREFIX@' ('`svnversion | sed -r 's/([0-9]+).*/\1/'`')"' >> version.h
diff --git a/libtransmission/version.h.in b/libtransmission/version.h.in
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5c6681bc7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libtransmission/version.h.in
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#define PEERID_PREFIX         "@PEERID_PREFIX@'"
+#define USERAGENT_PREFIX      "@USERAGENT_PREFIX@'"
+#define SVN_REVISION          "@SVN_REVISION@"
+#define SVN_REVISION_NUM      @SVN_REVISION@
+#define SHORT_VERSION_STRING  "@USERAGENT_PREFIX@"
+#define LONG_VERSION_STRING   "@USERAGENT_PREFIX@ (@SVN_REVISION@)"
+#define PEERID_PREFIX         "@PEERID_PREFIX@'"
+#define USERAGENT_PREFIX      "@USERAGENT_PREFIX@'"
+#define SVN_REVISION          "@SVN_REVISION@"
+#define SVN_REVISION_NUM      @SVN_REVISION@
+#define SHORT_VERSION_STRING  "@USERAGENT_PREFIX@"
+#define LONG_VERSION_STRING   "@USERAGENT_PREFIX@ (@SVN_REVISION@)"