diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a44f804f..ed688626 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 /test/**/xspec/
 /src/**/*.texi
 /src/conf.xsl
+/VERSION
 *.apply
 *.info
 
diff --git a/VERSION.in b/VERSION.in
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..27323dad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/VERSION.in
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+@VERSION@
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index cdf8924f..af0c12fe 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ AS_IF(test ! -d "$HOXSL",
   AC_MSG_ERROR([hoxsl path '$HOXSL' does not exist!]))
 AC_MSG_RESULT(found)
 
-AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile doc/Makefile src/init.xsl])
+AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile doc/Makefile src/init.xsl VERSION])
 
 AC_OUTPUT