diff --git a/Makefile.INCLUDE b/Makefile.INCLUDE
index fa79d0f0bc..799c004359 100644
--- a/Makefile.INCLUDE
+++ b/Makefile.INCLUDE
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 
 .SUFFIXES:
 
-VERSION=0.9.0rc3
+VERSION=$(shell cat `git rev-parse --show-toplevel`/VERSION)
 
 OS=$(shell uname)
 ARCH=$(shell uname -m)
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7bef126c57
--- /dev/null
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+0.9.0rc3