diff --git a/.goreleaser.yml b/.goreleaser.yml
index d8de2151..391379c4 100644
--- a/.goreleaser.yml
+++ b/.goreleaser.yml
@@ -30,10 +30,6 @@ builds:
         goarch: arm64
     flags:
       - -trimpath
-    # #1031: don't include the git hash in an official build
-    # default is: "-s -w -X main.version={{.Version}} -X main.commit={{.Commit}} -X main.date={{.Date}} -X main.builtBy=goreleaser"
-    ldflags:
-      - "-s -w -X main.build={{.Version}}"
 
 archives:
   -
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 7422c315..2a5043d7 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 .PHONY: all install build release capdefs test smoke
 
-GIT_COMMIT := $(shell git rev-parse --short=16 HEAD 2> /dev/null)
+GIT_COMMIT := $(shell git rev-parse HEAD 2> /dev/null)
 
 capdef_file = ./irc/caps/defs.go
 
diff --git a/irc/constants.go b/irc/constants.go
index 311aaf1a..975e9953 100644
--- a/irc/constants.go
+++ b/irc/constants.go
@@ -5,20 +5,7 @@
 
 package irc
 
-import "fmt"
-
 const (
-	// SemVer is the semantic version of Oragono.
-	SemVer = "2.1.0-unreleased"
-)
-
-var (
-	// Commit is the current git commit.
-	Commit = ""
-
-	// Ver is the full version of Oragono, used in responses to clients.
-	Ver = fmt.Sprintf("oragono-%s", SemVer)
-
 	// maxLastArgLength is used to simply cap off the final argument when creating general messages where we need to select a limit.
 	// for instance, in MONITOR lists, RPL_ISUPPORT lists, etc.
 	maxLastArgLength = 400
diff --git a/irc/version.go b/irc/version.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..217e47fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/irc/version.go
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+// Copyright (c) 2020 Shivaram Lingamneni
+// Released under the MIT license
+
+package irc
+
+import "fmt"
+
+const (
+	// SemVer is the semantic version of Oragono.
+	SemVer = "2.1.0-unreleased"
+)
+
+var (
+	// Ver is the full version of Oragono, used in responses to clients.
+	Ver = fmt.Sprintf("oragono-%s", SemVer)
+	// Commit is the full git hash, if available
+	Commit string
+)
+
+// initialize version strings (these are set in package main via linker flags)
+func SetVersionString(version, commit string) {
+	Commit = commit
+	if version != "" {
+		Ver = fmt.Sprintf("oragono-%s", version)
+	} else if len(Commit) == 40 {
+		Ver = fmt.Sprintf("oragono-%s-%s", SemVer, Commit[:16])
+	}
+}
diff --git a/oragono.go b/oragono.go
index 955924c4..e7ef49b3 100644
--- a/oragono.go
+++ b/oragono.go
@@ -21,7 +21,9 @@ import (
 	"golang.org/x/crypto/ssh/terminal"
 )
 
-var commit = ""
+// set via linker flags, either by make or by goreleaser:
+var commit = ""  // git hash
+var version = "" // tagged version
 
 // get a password from stdin from the user
 func getPassword() string {
@@ -89,7 +91,7 @@ func doMkcerts(configFile string, quiet bool) {
 }
 
 func main() {
-	version := irc.SemVer
+	irc.SetVersionString(version, commit)
 	usage := `oragono.
 Usage:
 	oragono initdb [--conf <filename>] [--quiet]
@@ -105,7 +107,7 @@ Options:
 	-h --help          Show this screen.
 	--version          Show version.`
 
-	arguments, _ := docopt.ParseArgs(usage, nil, version)
+	arguments, _ := docopt.ParseArgs(usage, nil, irc.Ver)
 
 	// don't require a config file for genpasswd
 	if arguments["genpasswd"].(bool) {
@@ -167,22 +169,11 @@ Options:
 		}
 	} else if arguments["run"].(bool) {
 		if !arguments["--quiet"].(bool) {
-			logman.Info("server", fmt.Sprintf("Oragono v%s starting", irc.SemVer))
-			if commit == "" {
-				logman.Debug("server", fmt.Sprintf("Could not get current commit"))
-			} else {
-				logman.Info("server", fmt.Sprintf("Running commit %s", commit))
-			}
-		}
-
-		// set current git commit
-		irc.Commit = commit
-		if commit != "" {
-			irc.Ver = fmt.Sprintf("%s-%s", irc.Ver, commit)
+			logman.Info("server", fmt.Sprintf("%s starting", irc.Ver))
 		}
 
 		// warning if running a non-final version
-		if strings.Contains(irc.SemVer, "unreleased") {
+		if strings.Contains(irc.Ver, "unreleased") {
 			logman.Warning("server", "You are currently running an unreleased beta version of Oragono that may be unstable and could corrupt your database.\nIf you are running a production network, please download the latest build from https://oragono.io/downloads.html and run that instead.")
 		}