diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ece61c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+1.0.6
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index a06919d..1212021 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/janeczku/go-dnsmasq/server"
 )
 
-// var Version string
-const Version = "1.0.5"
+// set at build time
+var Version = "dev"
 
 var (
 	nameservers   = []string{}
diff --git a/scripts/build b/scripts/build
index a2c840d..9f2f2e0 100755
--- a/scripts/build
+++ b/scripts/build
@@ -1,6 +1,14 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -e
 
+if [ -z "$1" ]; then
+    echo "The version number must be passed to this script"
+    exit 1
+fi
+VERSION=$1
+
+echo "building binary $VERSION"
+
 BUILD_IMAGE_NAME="go-dnsmasq-build"
 # GOARCH=${GOARCH:-"386 amd64 arm"}
 GOOS=${GOOS:-"darwin linux"}
@@ -23,6 +31,6 @@ docker run --rm \
     -os "$GOOS" \
     -arch "$GOARCH" \
     -output="go-dnsmasq_{{.OS}}-{{.Arch}}" \
-    -ldflags="-w -s" \
+    -ldflags "-w -s -X main.Version=$VERSION" \
     -tags="netgo" \
     -rebuild
diff --git a/scripts/build-min b/scripts/build-min
index 8355579..1e4647a 100755
--- a/scripts/build-min
+++ b/scripts/build-min
@@ -1,6 +1,14 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -e
 
+if [ -z "$1" ]; then
+    echo "The version number must be passed to this script"
+    exit 1
+fi
+VERSION=$1
+
+echo "building binary $VERSION"
+
 BUILD_IMAGE_NAME="go-dnsmasq-build"
 GOOS=${GOOS:-"darwin linux"}
 # GOARCH=${GOARCH:-"386 amd64 arm"}
@@ -23,7 +31,7 @@ docker run --rm \
     -os "$GOOS" \
     -arch "$GOARCH" \
     -output="go-dnsmasq-min_{{.OS}}-{{.Arch}}" \
-    -ldflags="-w -s" \
+    -ldflags "-w -s -X main.Version=$VERSION" \
     -tags="netgo" \
     -rebuild
 
diff --git a/scripts/release b/scripts/release
index 5152308..e31f4ab 100755
--- a/scripts/release
+++ b/scripts/release
@@ -1,15 +1,15 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -e
-if [ -z "$1" ]; then
-    echo "Pass the version number as the first arg. E.g.: scripts/release 1.2.3"
-    exit 1
-fi
-VERSION=$1
+
 if [ -z "$GITHUB_TOKEN" ]; then
     echo "GITHUB_TOKEN must be set for github-release"
     exit 1
 fi
 
+VERSION=$(cat VERSION)
+
+echo "making release version $VERSION"
+
 git checkout master
 
 git tag -f $VERSION
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ git push -f --tags
 
 git checkout master
 
-scripts/build
-scripts/build-min
+scripts/build $VERSION
+scripts/build-min $VERSION
 
 # UPX compression
 echo "Packing binaries with UPX..."