diff --git a/classes/rpc.php b/classes/rpc.php
index 84c9cfe92..af5bdf52c 100755
--- a/classes/rpc.php
+++ b/classes/rpc.php
@@ -590,15 +590,20 @@ class RPC extends Handler_Protected {
 	function checkforupdates() {
 		$rv = [];
 
-		if (CHECK_FOR_UPDATES && $_SESSION["access_level"] >= 10 && defined("GIT_VERSION_TIMESTAMP")) {
+		$git_timestamp = false;
+		$git_commit = false;
+
+		get_version($git_commit, $git_timestamp);
+
+		if (CHECK_FOR_UPDATES && $_SESSION["access_level"] >= 10 && $git_timestamp) {
 			$content = @fetch_file_contents(["url" => "https://srv.tt-rss.org/version.json"]);
 
 			if ($content) {
 				$content = json_decode($content, true);
 
 				if ($content && isset($content["changeset"])) {
-					if ((int)GIT_VERSION_TIMESTAMP < (int)$content["changeset"]["timestamp"] &&
-						GIT_VERSION_HEAD != $content["changeset"]["id"]) {
+					if ($git_timestamp < (int)$content["changeset"]["timestamp"] &&
+						$git_commit != $content["changeset"]["id"]) {
 
 						$rv = $content["changeset"];
 					}
diff --git a/include/functions.php b/include/functions.php
index 0a3082ec1..18885b1ea 100644
--- a/include/functions.php
+++ b/include/functions.php
@@ -560,7 +560,6 @@
 				session_regenerate_id(true);
 
 				$_SESSION["uid"] = $user_id;
-				$_SESSION["version"] = VERSION_STATIC;
 				$_SESSION["auth_module"] = $auth_module;
 
 				$pdo = DB::pdo();
diff --git a/include/version.php b/include/version.php
index db5c2ec80..1851dea20 100644
--- a/include/version.php
+++ b/include/version.php
@@ -1,43 +1,30 @@
 <?php
-	define('VERSION_STATIC', '19.8');
 
-	function get_version() {
+	function get_version(&$git_commit = false, &$git_timestamp = false) {
+		$version = "UNKNOWN (Unsupported)";
+
 		date_default_timezone_set('UTC');
 		$root_dir = dirname(dirname(__FILE__));
 
-		if (is_dir("$root_dir/.git") && file_exists("$root_dir/.git/HEAD")) {
-			$head = trim(file_get_contents("$root_dir/.git/HEAD"));
+		if (is_dir("$root_dir/.git")) {
+			$rc = 0;
+			$output = [];
 
-			if ($head) {
-				$matches = array();
+			exec("git log --pretty='%ct %h' -n1 HEAD " . escapeshellarg($root_dir), $output, $rc);
 
-				if (preg_match("/^ref: (.*)/", $head, $matches)) {
-					$ref = $matches[1];
+			if ($rc == 0) {
+				if (is_array($output) && count($output) > 0) {
+					list ($timestamp, $commit) = explode(" ", $output[0], 2);
 
-					if (!file_exists("$root_dir/.git/$ref"))
-						return VERSION_STATIC;
-					$suffix = substr(trim(file_get_contents("$root_dir/.git/$ref")), 0, 7);
-					$timestamp = filemtime("$root_dir/.git/$ref");
+					$git_commit = $commit;
+					$git_timestamp = $timestamp;
 
-					define("GIT_VERSION_HEAD", $suffix);
-					define("GIT_VERSION_TIMESTAMP", $timestamp);
-
-					return VERSION_STATIC . " ($suffix)";
-
-				} else {
-					$suffix = substr(trim($head), 0, 7);
-					$timestamp = filemtime("$root_dir/.git/HEAD");
-
-					define("GIT_VERSION_HEAD", $suffix);
-					define("GIT_VERSION_TIMESTAMP", $timestamp);
-
-					return VERSION_STATIC . " ($suffix)";
+					$version = strftime("%y.%m", $timestamp) . "-$commit";
 				}
 			}
 		}
 
-		return VERSION_STATIC;
-
+		return $version;
 	}
 
 	define('VERSION', get_version());