diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f7447b49a2..770a62d126 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 .config
 .config.old
+.coreboot-version
 .xcompile
 .ccwrap
 build/
diff --git a/Makefile.inc b/Makefile.inc
index 3995fbc1d8..347e07baf3 100644
--- a/Makefile.inc
+++ b/Makefile.inc
@@ -23,7 +23,9 @@ GIT:=$(shell [ -d "$(top)/.git" ] && command -v git)
 # misleadingly named, this is the coreboot version
 export KERNELVERSION := $(strip $(if $(GIT),\
 	$(shell git describe --dirty --always || git describe),\
-	4.0$(KERNELREVISION)))
+	$(if $(wildcard $(top)/.coreboot-version),\
+		$(shell cat $(top)/.coreboot-version),\
+		coreboot-unknown$(KERNELREVISION))))
 
 #######################################################################
 # Basic component discovery