diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f43959a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+.tarball-version-git export-subst
diff --git a/.tarball-version-git b/.tarball-version-git
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f4034a5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.tarball-version-git
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+$Format:%(describe)$
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3d27dcc..8eb03bb 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ SHRDIR := $(PREFIX)/share
 MANDIR := $(PREFIX)/share/man
 BINS = $(filter-out %_test.go,$(notdir $(wildcard cmd/*)))
 TAG = $(shell git describe --abbrev=0 --tags)
-VERSION = $(shell git describe --abbrev=7 | sed 's/-/./g;s/^v//;')
+VERSION = $(shell if grep Format .tarball-version-git > /dev/null; then git describe --abbrev=7 | sed 's/-/./g;s/^v//;'; else cat .tarball-version-git; fi)
 
 MANPAGES = \
 	man/ssh-tpm-hostkeys.1 \