diff --git a/configure.in b/configure.in
index ec843ebb11..b7e98da6c6 100644
--- a/configure.in
+++ b/configure.in
@@ -813,6 +813,18 @@ AC_CHECK_HEADER(pcap.h,,[AC_ERROR(pcap.h not found ...)])
         fi
     fi
 
+# get revision
+    if test -f ./revision; then
+        REVISION=`cat ./revision`
+        CFLAGS="${CFLAGS} -DREVISION=\"${REVISION}\""
+    else
+        GIT=`which git`
+        if test "$GIT" != ""; then
+            REVISION=`git describe --always`
+            CFLAGS="${CFLAGS} -DREVISION=\"${REVISION}\""
+        fi
+    fi
+
 AC_SUBST(CFLAGS)
 AC_SUBST(LDFLAGS)
 AC_SUBST(CPPFLAGS)
diff --git a/src/suricata-common.h b/src/suricata-common.h
index 7c7c9f08a0..5ebe1827b6 100644
--- a/src/suricata-common.h
+++ b/src/suricata-common.h
@@ -127,6 +127,11 @@
 #include <assert.h>
 #define BUG_ON(x) assert(!(x))
 
+/* we need this to stringify the defines which are supplied at compiletime see:
+   http://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc-3.4.1/cpp/Stringification.html#Stringification */
+#define xstr(s) str(s)
+#define str(s) #s
+
 /** type for the internal signature id. Since it's used in the matching engine
  *  extensively keeping this as small as possible reduces the overall memory
  *  footprint of the engine. Set to uint32_t if the engine needs to support
diff --git a/src/suricata.c b/src/suricata.c
index 3306561bb3..561655c05e 100644
--- a/src/suricata.c
+++ b/src/suricata.c
@@ -313,7 +313,11 @@ static void SetBpfString(int optind, char *argv[]) {
 
 void usage(const char *progname)
 {
+#ifdef REVISION
+    printf("%s %s (rev %s)\n", PROG_NAME, PROG_VER, xstr(REVISION));
+#else
     printf("%s %s\n", PROG_NAME, PROG_VER);
+#endif
     printf("USAGE: %s\n\n", progname);
     printf("\t-c <path>                    : path to configuration file\n");
     printf("\t-i <dev or ip>               : run in pcap live mode\n");
@@ -437,7 +441,11 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	}
 #endif /* OS_WIN32 */
 
+#ifdef REVISION
+    SCLogInfo("This is %s version %s (rev %s)", PROG_NAME, PROG_VER, xstr(REVISION));
+#else
     SCLogInfo("This is %s version %s", PROG_NAME, PROG_VER);
+#endif
 
     /* Initialize the configuration module. */
     ConfInit();
@@ -726,7 +734,11 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 #endif
             break;
         case 'V':
+#ifdef REVISION
+            printf("\nThis is %s version %s (rev %s)\n\n", PROG_NAME, PROG_VER, xstr(REVISION));
+#else
             printf("\nThis is %s version %s\n\n", PROG_NAME, PROG_VER);
+#endif
             exit(EXIT_SUCCESS);
         default:
             usage(argv[0]);