diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index daf913b1b..306a8fba0 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -22,3 +22,6 @@ _testmain.go
 *.exe
 *.test
 *.prof
+
+# never checkin from the bin file (for now)
+bin/*
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d853dacab..e3477e83f 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,15 +1,26 @@
-# This project makefile is around for generating peices of documentation and
-# code. For most purposes, running it is not necessary.
+# Set an output prefix, which is the local directory if not specified
+PREFIX?=$(shell pwd)
 
-.PHONY: clean
+# Used to populate version variable in main package.
+GO_LDFLAGS=-ldflags "-X `go list ./version`.Version `git describe --match 'v[0-9]*' --dirty='.m' --always`"
+
+.PHONY: clean binaries
 .DEFAULT: default
 
 default:
-	@echo Please read the make targets before using this Makefile. It is \
-	    currently only used for documentation and autogenerated files.
+	@echo Please read the make targets before using this Makefile.
 
 AUTHORS: .mailmap .git/ORIG_HEAD .git/FETCH_HEAD .git/HEAD
 	 git log --format='%aN <%aE>' | sort -fu >> $@
 
+# This only needs to be generated by hand when cutting full releases.
+version/version.go:
+	./version/version.sh > $@
+
+${PREFIX}/bin/registry: version/version.go $(shell find . -type f -name '*.go')
+	go build -o $@ ${GO_LDFLAGS} ./cmd/registry
+
+binaries: ${PREFIX}/bin/registry
+
 clean:
-	rm -rf AUTHORS
\ No newline at end of file
+	rm -rf ${PREFIX}/bin/registry
diff --git a/cmd/registry/main.go b/cmd/registry/main.go
index 436b8f77b..c19a122fa 100644
--- a/cmd/registry/main.go
+++ b/cmd/registry/main.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package main
 import (
 	"flag"
 	"fmt"
+	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	_ "net/http/pprof"
 	"os"
@@ -19,12 +20,24 @@ import (
 	_ "github.com/docker/distribution/storagedriver/filesystem"
 	_ "github.com/docker/distribution/storagedriver/inmemory"
 	_ "github.com/docker/distribution/storagedriver/s3"
+	"github.com/docker/distribution/version"
 )
 
+var showVersion bool
+
+func init() {
+	flag.BoolVar(&showVersion, "version", false, "show the version and exit")
+}
+
 func main() {
 	flag.Usage = usage
 	flag.Parse()
 
+	if showVersion {
+		printVersion(os.Stdout)
+		return
+	}
+
 	config, err := resolveConfiguration()
 	if err != nil {
 		fatalf("configuration error: %v", err)
@@ -46,6 +59,10 @@ func usage() {
 	flag.PrintDefaults()
 }
 
+func printVersion(w io.Writer) {
+	fmt.Fprintln(w, os.Args[0], version.Package, version.Version)
+}
+
 func fatalf(format string, args ...interface{}) {
 	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, format+"\n", args...)
 	usage()
diff --git a/version/version.go b/version/version.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2e96cd68f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/version/version.go
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+package version
+
+// Package is the overall, canonical project import path under which the
+// package was built.
+var Package = "github.com/docker/distribution"
+
+// Version indicates which version of the binary is running. This is set to
+// the latest release tag by hand, always suffixed by "+unknown". During
+// build, it will be replaced by the actual version. The value here will be
+// used if the registry is run after a go get based install.
+var Version = "v2.0.0-alpha.1+unknown"
diff --git a/version/version.sh b/version/version.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..53e29ce9b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/version/version.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# This bash script outputs the current, desired content of version.go, using
+# git describe. For best effect, pipe this to the target file. Generally, this
+# only needs to updated for releases. The actual value of will be replaced
+# during build time if the makefile is used.
+
+set -e
+
+cat <<EOF
+package version
+
+// Package is the overall, canonical project import path under which the
+// package was built.
+var Package = "$(go list)"
+
+// Version indicates which version of the binary is running. This is set to
+// the latest release tag by hand, always suffixed by "+unknown". During
+// build, it will be replaced by the actual version. The value here will be
+// used if the registry is run after a go get based install.
+var Version = "$(git describe --match 'v[0-9]*' --dirty='.m' --always)+unknown"
+EOF
\ No newline at end of file