diff --git a/GoTomato.go b/GoTomato.go
index 01e3a2e..4146b03 100644
--- a/GoTomato.go
+++ b/GoTomato.go
@@ -1,9 +1,14 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"fmt"
+
 	"git.smsvc.net/pomodoro/GoTomato/cmd/server"
 )
 
+var Version = ""
+
 func main() {
+	fmt.Println(Version)
 	server.Start()
 }
diff --git a/cmd/server/main.go b/cmd/server/main.go
index 2024fa2..fbb0aae 100644
--- a/cmd/server/main.go
+++ b/cmd/server/main.go
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ func Start() {
 
 	// show server and protocl version and exit
 	if *showVersionFlag {
-		fmt.Printf("GoTomato v%s\n", metadata.GoTomatoVersion)
+		fmt.Printf("GoTomato v%s\n", metadata.GetVersion())
 		fmt.Printf("Protocol-Version: %s\n", metadata.ProtocolVersion)
 		os.Exit(0)
 	}
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ func Start() {
 	r.HandleFunc("/ws", websocket.HandleConnection)
 	go websocket.SendPermanentBroadCastMessage()
 
-	helper.Logger.Info("GoTomato started", "version", metadata.GoTomatoVersion)
+	helper.Logger.Info("GoTomato started", "version", metadata.GetVersion())
 	helper.Logger.Info("Websocket listening", "address", listen)
 
 	// start the listener
diff --git a/internal/metadata/version.go b/internal/metadata/version.go
index 2b080e5..8383907 100644
--- a/internal/metadata/version.go
+++ b/internal/metadata/version.go
@@ -1,20 +1,25 @@
 package metadata
 
 import (
-	"os/exec"
-	"strings"
+	"runtime/debug"
 )
 
 var (
-	GoTomatoVersion = "" // The GoTomato version
-	ProtocolVersion = "" // The protocol version
+	version         = ""
+	ProtocolVersion = "0"
 )
 
 func init() {
-	if GoTomatoVersion == "" {
-		output, _ := exec.Command("git", "describe", "--tags").Output()
-		trimmed_output := strings.TrimSpace(string(output))           // strip newlines
-		GoTomatoVersion = strings.Replace(trimmed_output, "v", "", 1) // strip leading "v"
+	info, ok := debug.ReadBuildInfo()
+	if !ok || info.Main.Version == "" {
+		version = "unknown"
+	} else {
+		if version == "" {
+			version = info.Main.Version
+		}
 	}
-	ProtocolVersion = strings.Split(GoTomatoVersion, ".")[0] // The protocol version
+}
+
+func GetVersion() string {
+	return version
 }