diff --git a/kotlin-preprocessors/build.gradle.kts b/kotlin-preprocessors/build.gradle.kts
index 27f039b..b691366 100644
--- a/kotlin-preprocessors/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/kotlin-preprocessors/build.gradle.kts
@@ -1,28 +1,31 @@
-import org.ajoberstar.grgit.Commit
-import org.ajoberstar.grgit.Grgit
+import versioning.GitTagValueSource
+import versioning.GitHashValueSource
 
 plugins {
     kotlin("jvm")
     `kotlin-dsl`
-    id("org.ajoberstar.grgit") version "5.3.2"
     id("com.utopia-rise.maven-central-publish")
     id("com.gradle.plugin-publish") version "1.2.0"
     `java-gradle-plugin`
 }
 
-val baseVersion = "0.1.4"
+val baseVersion = "0.2.1"
 
-val grgit = Grgit.open(mapOf("currentDir" to project.rootDir))
+val exactTag = providers.of(GitTagValueSource::class) {
+    parameters.workDir.set(layout.projectDirectory)
+}
+
+val shortHash = providers.of(GitHashValueSource::class) {
+    parameters.workDir.set(layout.projectDirectory)
+    parameters.abbrev.set(7)
+}
 
-val currentCommit: Commit = grgit.head()
-// check if the current commit is tagged
-var tagOnCurrentCommit = grgit.tag.list().firstOrNull { tag -> tag.commit.id == currentCommit.id }
-var releaseMode = tagOnCurrentCommit != null
+logger.lifecycle("Current tag is: ${exactTag.orNull}")
+logger.lifecycle("Current commit hash is: ${shortHash.orNull}")
 
-version = if (!releaseMode) {
-    "$baseVersion-${currentCommit.abbreviatedId}-SNAPSHOT"
-} else {
-    requireNotNull(tagOnCurrentCommit).name
+val tagValue = exactTag.get()
+version = tagValue.ifBlank {
+    "$baseVersion-${shortHash.get()}-SNAPSHOT"
 }
 
 group = "com.utopia-rise"
diff --git a/kotlin-preprocessors/buildSrc/src/main/kotlin/versioning/GitHashValueSource.kt b/kotlin-preprocessors/buildSrc/src/main/kotlin/versioning/GitHashValueSource.kt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..62e96a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kotlin-preprocessors/buildSrc/src/main/kotlin/versioning/GitHashValueSource.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+package versioning
+
+import org.gradle.api.GradleException
+import org.gradle.api.file.DirectoryProperty
+import org.gradle.api.provider.Property
+import org.gradle.api.provider.ValueSourceParameters
+import org.gradle.api.tasks.Input
+import org.gradle.api.tasks.InputDirectory
+import org.gradle.api.tasks.PathSensitive
+import org.gradle.api.tasks.PathSensitivity
+
+abstract class GitHashValueSource : GitValueSource<String, GitHashValueSource.Params>() {
+    interface Params : ValueSourceParameters {
+        @get:InputDirectory
+        @get:PathSensitive(PathSensitivity.RELATIVE)
+        val workDir: DirectoryProperty
+
+        @get:Input
+        val abbrev: Property<Int>
+    }
+
+    override fun obtain(): String {
+        val workDir = parameters.workDir.asFile.get()
+        val abbrev = parameters.abbrev.orNull ?: 7
+
+        val shortHead = runGitCommand(workDir, "rev-parse", "--short=$abbrev", "HEAD")
+        if (shortHead.exitCode == 0) {
+            val hash = shortHead.output.trim()
+            if (hash.matches(Regex("[0-9a-fA-F]{4,40}"))) return hash
+        }
+        throw GradleException("Failed to obtain short git hash (exit=${shortHead.exitCode}, out=${shortHead.output.trim()})")
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/kotlin-preprocessors/buildSrc/src/main/kotlin/versioning/GitTagValueSource.kt b/kotlin-preprocessors/buildSrc/src/main/kotlin/versioning/GitTagValueSource.kt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a962ae0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kotlin-preprocessors/buildSrc/src/main/kotlin/versioning/GitTagValueSource.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+package versioning
+
+import org.gradle.api.file.DirectoryProperty
+import org.gradle.api.provider.ValueSourceParameters
+import org.gradle.api.tasks.InputDirectory
+import org.gradle.api.tasks.PathSensitive
+import org.gradle.api.tasks.PathSensitivity
+
+abstract class GitTagValueSource : GitValueSource<String, GitTagValueSource.Params>() {
+    interface Params : ValueSourceParameters {
+        @get:InputDirectory
+        @get:PathSensitive(PathSensitivity.RELATIVE)
+        val workDir: DirectoryProperty
+    }
+
+    override fun obtain(): String {
+        val workDir = parameters.workDir.asFile.get()
+
+        val exactTag = runGitCommand(workDir, "describe", "--tags", "--exact-match")
+        return if (exactTag.exitCode == 0) {
+            exactTag.output.trim()
+        } else {
+            ""
+        }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/kotlin-preprocessors/buildSrc/src/main/kotlin/versioning/GitValueSource.kt b/kotlin-preprocessors/buildSrc/src/main/kotlin/versioning/GitValueSource.kt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..61ca615
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kotlin-preprocessors/buildSrc/src/main/kotlin/versioning/GitValueSource.kt
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+package versioning
+
+import org.gradle.api.provider.ValueSource
+import org.gradle.api.provider.ValueSourceParameters
+import java.io.File
+
+abstract class GitValueSource<T, P : ValueSourceParameters> : ValueSource<T, P> {
+    protected fun runGitCommand(workingDir: File, vararg args: String): Result {
+        return try {
+            val pb = ProcessBuilder(listOf("git") + args.toList())
+            pb.directory(workingDir)
+            pb.redirectErrorStream(true)
+            val proc = pb.start()
+            val output = proc.inputStream.bufferedReader().readText()
+            val exit = proc.waitFor()
+            Result(exit, output)
+        } catch (e: Exception) {
+            Result(1, e.message ?: e::class.java.name)
+        }
+    }
+
+    protected data class Result(val exitCode: Int, val output: String)
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/kotlin-preprocessors/settings.gradle.kts b/kotlin-preprocessors/settings.gradle.kts
index 44c2006..a2e7852 100644
--- a/kotlin-preprocessors/settings.gradle.kts
+++ b/kotlin-preprocessors/settings.gradle.kts
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
 
 rootProject.name = "kotlin-preprocessors"
 
+plugins {
+    // downloads missing jdk for `jvmToolchain` see: https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/toolchains.html#sub:download_repositories
+    id("org.gradle.toolchains.foojay-resolver-convention") version("1.0.0") // https://github.com/gradle/foojay-toolchains/tags
+}
diff --git a/kotlin-preprocessors/src/main/kotlin/com/utopiarise/kotlin/preprocessors/gradle/PreProcessorPlugin.kt b/kotlin-preprocessors/src/main/kotlin/com/utopiarise/kotlin/preprocessors/gradle/PreProcessorPlugin.kt
index afd53b6..42e7e10 100644
--- a/kotlin-preprocessors/src/main/kotlin/com/utopiarise/kotlin/preprocessors/gradle/PreProcessorPlugin.kt
+++ b/kotlin-preprocessors/src/main/kotlin/com/utopiarise/kotlin/preprocessors/gradle/PreProcessorPlugin.kt
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ class PreProcessorPlugin : Plugin<Project> {
             description = "Generate definitions for kotlin as constants."
         }
 
-        val generatedKotlinDefinitionsDirectory = project.buildDir.resolve("definitions")
+        val generatedKotlinDefinitionsDirectory = project.layout.buildDirectory.asFile.get().resolve("definitions")
 
         project
             .kotlinExtension