diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 3eb694970..7a4ef6f9e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -4,14 +4,8 @@ OUTPUT?=$(BUILDDIR)/tendermint
 
 BUILD_TAGS?=tendermint
 
-# If building a release, please checkout the version tag to get the correct version setting
-ifneq ($(shell git symbolic-ref -q --short HEAD),)
-VERSION := unreleased-$(shell git symbolic-ref -q --short HEAD)-$(shell git rev-parse HEAD)
-else
-VERSION := $(shell git describe)
-endif
-
-LD_FLAGS = -X github.com/tendermint/tendermint/version.TMCoreSemVer=$(VERSION)
+COMMIT_HASH := $(shell git rev-parse --short HEAD)
+LD_FLAGS = -X github.com/tendermint/tendermint/version.TMGitCommitHash=$(COMMIT_HASH)
 BUILD_FLAGS = -mod=readonly -ldflags "$(LD_FLAGS)"
 HTTPS_GIT := https://github.com/tendermint/tendermint.git
 CGO_ENABLED ?= 0
diff --git a/abci/example/kvstore/kvstore.go b/abci/example/kvstore/kvstore.go
index e39291390..3188c9425 100644
--- a/abci/example/kvstore/kvstore.go
+++ b/abci/example/kvstore/kvstore.go
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ func NewApplication() *Application {
 func (app *Application) Info(req types.RequestInfo) (resInfo types.ResponseInfo) {
 	return types.ResponseInfo{
 		Data:             fmt.Sprintf("{\"size\":%v}", app.state.Size),
-		Version:          version.ABCIVersion,
+		Version:          version.ABCISemVer,
 		AppVersion:       ProtocolVersion,
 		LastBlockHeight:  app.state.Height,
 		LastBlockAppHash: app.state.AppHash,
diff --git a/abci/version/version.go b/abci/version/version.go
index f4dc4d235..2314c2852 100644
--- a/abci/version/version.go
+++ b/abci/version/version.go
@@ -6,4 +6,4 @@ import (
 
 // TODO: eliminate this after some version refactor
 
-const Version = version.ABCIVersion
+const Version = version.ABCISemVer
diff --git a/cmd/tendermint/commands/version.go b/cmd/tendermint/commands/version.go
index d33a7c3a3..16fb878c9 100644
--- a/cmd/tendermint/commands/version.go
+++ b/cmd/tendermint/commands/version.go
@@ -14,6 +14,11 @@ var VersionCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Use:   "version",
 	Short: "Show version info",
 	Run: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
+		tmVersion := version.TMCoreSemVer
+		if version.TMGitCommitHash != "" {
+			tmVersion += "+" + version.TMGitCommitHash
+		}
+
 		if verbose {
 			values, _ := json.MarshalIndent(struct {
 				Tendermint    string `json:"tendermint"`
@@ -21,14 +26,14 @@ var VersionCmd = &cobra.Command{
 				BlockProtocol uint64 `json:"block_protocol"`
 				P2PProtocol   uint64 `json:"p2p_protocol"`
 			}{
-				Tendermint:    version.TMCoreSemVer,
-				ABCI:          version.ABCIVersion,
+				Tendermint:    tmVersion,
+				ABCI:          version.ABCISemVer,
 				BlockProtocol: version.BlockProtocol,
 				P2PProtocol:   version.P2PProtocol,
 			}, "", "  ")
 			fmt.Println(string(values))
 		} else {
-			fmt.Println(version.TMCoreSemVer)
+			fmt.Println(tmVersion)
 		}
 	},
 }
diff --git a/node/node.go b/node/node.go
index 902943288..ac0eca873 100644
--- a/node/node.go
+++ b/node/node.go
@@ -335,8 +335,10 @@ func logNodeStartupInfo(state sm.State, pubKey crypto.PubKey, logger, consensusL
 	// Log the version info.
 	logger.Info("Version info",
 		"tendermint_version", version.TMCoreSemVer,
+		"abci", version.ABCISemVer,
 		"block", version.BlockProtocol,
 		"p2p", version.P2PProtocol,
+		"commit_hash", version.TMGitCommitHash,
 	)
 
 	// If the state and software differ in block version, at least log it.
diff --git a/version/version.go b/version/version.go
index 272bd0326..46fb32a97 100644
--- a/version/version.go
+++ b/version/version.go
@@ -1,18 +1,12 @@
 package version
 
-var TMCoreSemVer = TMVersionDefault
-
 const (
 	// TMVersionDefault is the used as the fallback version of Tendermint Core
 	// when not using git describe. It is formatted with semantic versioning.
-	TMVersionDefault = "0.38.0-dev"
+	TMCoreSemVer = "0.38.0-dev"
 	// ABCISemVer is the semantic version of the ABCI protocol
-	ABCISemVer = "1.0.0"
-
+	ABCISemVer  = "1.0.0"
 	ABCIVersion = ABCISemVer
-)
-
-var (
 	// P2PProtocol versions all p2p behavior and msgs.
 	// This includes proposer selection.
 	P2PProtocol uint64 = 8
@@ -21,3 +15,9 @@ var (
 	// This includes validity of blocks and state updates.
 	BlockProtocol uint64 = 11
 )
+
+var (
+	// TMGitCommitHash uses git rev-parse HEAD to find commit hash which is helpful
+	// for the engineering team when working with the tendermint binary. See Makefile
+	TMGitCommitHash = ""
+)