diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3838b60..5626dc8 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
-all install clean distclean:
-	$(MAKE) -C src $@
-
 PACKAGE=sysvinit
 VERSION=$(shell sed -rn '1s/.*[[:blank:]]\((.*)\)[[:blank:]].*/\1/p' doc/Changelog)
+
+all install clean distclean:
+	$(MAKE) VERSION=$(VERSION) -C src $@
+
 GITLOGIN=$(shell git remote -v | head -n 1 | cut -f 1 -d '@' | sed 's/origin\t//g')
 override TMP:=$(shell mktemp -du $(VERSION).XXXXXXXX)
 override TARBALL:=$(TMP)/$(PACKAGE)-$(VERSION).tar.xz
diff --git a/doc/Changelog b/doc/Changelog
index 1547330..1e6c29b 100644
--- a/doc/Changelog
+++ b/doc/Changelog
@@ -4,13 +4,12 @@ sysvinit (2.91) UNRELEASED; urgency=low
 
     * Adjusted order of compile flags to make it easier for downstream
       to adjust optimization level. Patch provided by Matias Fonzo.
-<<<<<<< HEAD
       Can now set optimization level in CFLAGS variable.
     * Added --version command line flag to display current version info.
       Updated manual page for init.8 to match.
-=======
-      Can now set optimization level in CFLAGS varible.
->>>>>>> 5f6d86d216fd25a5086750465e73ed5579a86d18
+    * Version information is now fetched and defined by the Makefile.
+      No more need to update the version manually in the init.c source.
+
 
 sysvinit (2.90) world; urgency=low
 
diff --git a/src/Makefile b/src/Makefile
index dbcf3e4..272a316 100644
--- a/src/Makefile
+++ b/src/Makefile
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 
 CPPFLAGS =
 CFLAGS  ?= -O2
-override CFLAGS += -ansi -fomit-frame-pointer -fstack-protector-strong -W -Wall -Wunreachable-code -Wformat -Werror=format-security -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -D_XOPEN_SOURCE -D_GNU_SOURCE 
+override CFLAGS += -ansi -fomit-frame-pointer -fstack-protector-strong -W -Wall -Wunreachable-code -Wformat -Werror=format-security -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -D_XOPEN_SOURCE -D_GNU_SOURCE -DVERSION=\"$(VERSION)\"
 override CFLAGS += $(shell getconf LFS_CFLAGS)
 STATIC	=
 MANDB	:= s@^\('\\\\\"\)[^\*-]*-\*- coding: [^[:blank:]]\+ -\*-@\1@
diff --git a/src/init.c b/src/init.c
index efc40dd..edbc856 100644
--- a/src/init.c
+++ b/src/init.c
@@ -8,7 +8,13 @@
  * Version:	@(#)init.c  2.86  30-Jul-2004  miquels@cistron.nl
  * Version:     init.c 2.90 18-Jun-2018 jsmith@resonatingmedia.com
  */
-#define VERSION "2.90"
+
+/*
+Version information is not placed in the top-level Makefile by default
+*/
+#ifndef VERSION
+#define VERSION "2.91"
+#endif
 /*
  *		This file is part of the sysvinit suite,
  *		Copyright (C) 1991-2004 Miquel van Smoorenburg.