diff --git a/Build/BuildVersion.hs b/Build/BuildVersion.hs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0093f5b5b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Build/BuildVersion.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+{- Outputs the version of git-annex that was built, for use by
+ - autobuilders. Note that this includes the git rev. -}
+
+import Build.Version
+
+main = putStr =<< getVersion
diff --git a/Build/Configure.hs b/Build/Configure.hs
index 116a44215f..70cce74a56 100644
--- a/Build/Configure.hs
+++ b/Build/Configure.hs
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ import qualified Git.Version
 
 tests :: [TestCase]
 tests =
-	[ TestCase "version" getVersion
+	[ TestCase "version" (Config "packageversion" . StringConfig <$> getVersion)
 	, TestCase "UPGRADE_LOCATION" getUpgradeLocation
 	, TestCase "git" $ requireCmd "git" "git --version >/dev/null"
 	, TestCase "git version" getGitVersion
diff --git a/Build/Version.hs b/Build/Version.hs
index 7ff2fe662e..0bcb4a520e 100644
--- a/Build/Version.hs
+++ b/Build/Version.hs
@@ -25,10 +25,10 @@ isReleaseBuild = isJust <$> catchMaybeIO (getEnv "RELEASE_BUILD")
  -
  - If git or a git repo is not available, or something goes wrong,
  - or this is a release build, just use the version from the changelog. -}
-getVersion :: Test
+getVersion :: IO String
 getVersion = do
 	changelogversion <- getChangelogVersion
-	version <- ifM (isReleaseBuild)
+	ifM (isReleaseBuild)
 		( return changelogversion
 		, catchDefaultIO changelogversion $ do
 			let major = takeWhile (/= '.') changelogversion
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@ getVersion = do
 				then return changelogversion
 				else return $ concat [ major, ".", autoversion ]
 		)
-	return $ Config "packageversion" (StringConfig version)
 	
 getChangelogVersion :: IO String
 getChangelogVersion = do
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index e56cd7cdaf..5692542997 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -83,7 +83,8 @@ clean:
 	rm -rf tmp dist git-annex $(mans) configure  *.tix .hpc \
 		doc/.ikiwiki html dist tags Build/SysConfig.hs build-stamp \
 		Setup Build/InstallDesktopFile Build/EvilSplicer \
-		Build/Standalone Build/OSXMkLibs Build/LinuxMkLibs Build/DistributionUpdate \
+		Build/Standalone Build/OSXMkLibs Build/LinuxMkLibs \
+		Build/DistributionUpdate Build/BuildVersion \
 		git-union-merge .tasty-rerun-log
 	find . -name \*.o -exec rm {} \;
 	find . -name \*.hi -exec rm {} \;