diff --git a/hledger-ui/Hledger/UI/UIOptions.hs b/hledger-ui/Hledger/UI/UIOptions.hs
index 8fa2d2ca4..723c26994 100644
--- a/hledger-ui/Hledger/UI/UIOptions.hs
+++ b/hledger-ui/Hledger/UI/UIOptions.hs
@@ -13,15 +13,14 @@ import System.Environment
 import Hledger.Cli hiding (progname,version,prognameandversion)
 import Hledger.UI.Theme (themeNames)
 
-progname, version :: String
+progname, version, prognameandversion :: String
 progname = "hledger-ui"
 #ifdef VERSION
 version = VERSION
 #else
 version = ""
 #endif
-prognameandversion :: String
-prognameandversion = progname ++ " " ++ version :: String
+prognameandversion = versiondescription progname
 
 uiflags = [
   -- flagNone ["debug-ui"] (setboolopt "rules-file") "run with no terminal output, showing console"
diff --git a/hledger-web/Hledger/Web/WebOptions.hs b/hledger-web/Hledger/Web/WebOptions.hs
index 2376668f0..8e4dcbd9e 100644
--- a/hledger-web/Hledger/Web/WebOptions.hs
+++ b/hledger-web/Hledger/Web/WebOptions.hs
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ version = VERSION
 version = ""
 #endif
 prognameandversion :: String
-prognameandversion = progname ++ " " ++ version :: String
+prognameandversion = versiondescription progname
 
 webflags :: [Flag RawOpts]
 webflags =
diff --git a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Main.hs b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Main.hs
index 711d52175..bb0527a07 100644
--- a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Main.hs
+++ b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Main.hs
@@ -138,7 +138,6 @@ main = do
     isExternalCommand    = not (null cmd) && cmd `elem` addons -- probably
     isBadCommand         = not (null rawcmd) && null cmd
     hasVersion           = ("--version" `elem`)
-    hasDetailedVersion   = ("--version+" `elem`)
     printUsage           = putStr $ showModeUsage $ mainmode addons
     badCommandError      = error' ("command "++rawcmd++" is not recognized, run with no command to see a list") >> exitFailure  -- PARTIAL:
     hasHelpFlag args     = any (`elem` args) ["-h","--help"]
@@ -170,9 +169,6 @@ main = do
       | not (isExternalCommand || hasHelpFlag args || hasInfoFlag args || hasManFlag args)
         && (hasVersion args) --  || (hasVersion argsaftercmd && isInternalCommand))
                                  = putStrLn prognameandversion
-      | not (isExternalCommand || hasHelpFlag args || hasInfoFlag args || hasManFlag args) 
-        && (hasDetailedVersion argsbeforecmd)  --  || (hasDetailedVersion argsaftercmd && isInternalCommand))
-                                 = putStrLn prognameanddetailedversion
       -- \| (null externalcmd) && "binary-filename" `inRawOpts` rawopts = putStrLn $ binaryfilename progname
       -- \| "--browse-args" `elem` args     = System.Console.CmdArgs.Helper.execute "cmdargs-browser" mainmode' args >>= (putStr . show)
       | isNullCommand            = dbgIO "" "no command, showing commands list" >> printCommandsList addons
diff --git a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Version.hs b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Version.hs
index b762690b3..149ad4fc9 100644
--- a/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Version.hs
+++ b/hledger/Hledger/Cli/Version.hs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-{-# LANGUAGE CPP, TemplateHaskell #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE CPP             #-}
+{-# LANGUAGE TemplateHaskell #-}
 {-
 Version number-related utilities. See also the Makefile.
 -}
@@ -7,26 +8,29 @@ module Hledger.Cli.Version (
   progname,
   version,
   prognameandversion,
-  prognameanddetailedversion,
-  binaryfilename
+  versiondescription,
+  binaryfilename,
 )
 where
-import System.Info (os, arch)
-import Text.Printf
 
+#if MIN_VERSION_githash(0,1,4)
+import GitHash (giDescribe, tGitInfoCwdTry)
+#else
+import GitHash (giHash, tGitInfoCwdTry)
+#endif
+import System.Info (os, arch)
 import Hledger.Utils
 
 
 -- package name and version from the cabal file
-progname, version, prognameandversion, prognameanddetailedversion :: String
+progname, version, prognameandversion :: String
 progname = "hledger"
 #ifdef VERSION
 version = VERSION
 #else
 version = "dev build"
 #endif
-prognameandversion = progname ++ " " ++ version
-prognameanddetailedversion = printf "%s %s" progname version
+prognameandversion = versiondescription progname
 
 -- developer build version strings include PATCHLEVEL (number of
 -- patches since the last tag). If defined, it must be a number.
@@ -39,29 +43,40 @@ patchlevel = ""
 
 -- the package version plus patchlevel if specified
 buildversion :: String
-buildversion  = version ++ patchlevel
+buildversion = prettify . splitAtElement '.' $ version ++ patchlevel
+  where
+    prettify (major:minor:bugfix:patches:[]) =
+        major ++ "." ++ minor ++ bugfix' ++ patches'
+      where
+        bugfix'  = if bugfix  == "0" then "" else '.' : bugfix
+        patches' = if patches == "0" then "" else '+' : patches
+    prettify (major:minor:bugfix:[]) = prettify [major,minor,bugfix,"0"]
+    prettify (major:minor:[])        = prettify [major,minor,"0","0"]
+    prettify (major:[])              = prettify [major,"0","0","0"]
+    prettify []                      = error' "VERSION is empty, please fix"  -- PARTIAL:
+    prettify _                       = error' "VERSION has too many components, please fix"
+
+-- | A string representing the version description of the current package
+versiondescription :: String -> String
+versiondescription progname = concat
+#if MIN_VERSION_githash(0,1,4)
+    [progname, " ", either (const buildversion) giDescribe gi, ", ", os', "-", arch]
+#else
+    [progname, " ", buildversion, either (const "") (\x -> ", git revision " ++ giHash x) gi, ", ", os', "-", arch]
+#endif
+  where
+    gi = $$tGitInfoCwdTry
+    os' | os == "darwin"  = "mac"
+        | os == "mingw32" = "windows"
+        | otherwise       = os
 
 -- | Given a program name, return a precise platform-specific executable
 -- name suitable for naming downloadable binaries.  Can raise an error if
 -- the version and patch level was not defined correctly at build time.
 binaryfilename :: String -> String
-binaryfilename progname = prettify $ splitAtElement '.' buildversion
-                where
-                  prettify (major:minor:bugfix:patches:[]) =
-                      printf "%s-%s.%s%s%s-%s-%s%s" progname major minor bugfix' patches' os' arch suffix
-                          where
-                            bugfix'
-                                | bugfix `elem` ["0"{-,"98","99"-}] = ""
-                                | otherwise = '.' : bugfix
-                            patches'
-                                | patches/="0" = '+' : patches
-                                | otherwise = ""
-                            (os',suffix)
-                                | os == "darwin"  = ("mac","" :: String)
-                                | os == "mingw32" = ("windows",".exe")
-                                | otherwise       = (os,"")
-                  prettify (major:minor:bugfix:[]) = prettify [major,minor,bugfix,"0"]
-                  prettify (major:minor:[])        = prettify [major,minor,"0","0"]
-                  prettify (major:[])              = prettify [major,"0","0","0"]
-                  prettify []                      = error' "VERSION is empty, please fix"  -- PARTIAL:
-                  prettify _                       = error' "VERSION has too many components, please fix"
+binaryfilename progname = concat
+    [progname, "-", buildversion, "-", os', "-", arch, suffix]
+  where
+    (os',suffix) | os == "darwin"  = ("mac","" :: String)
+                 | os == "mingw32" = ("windows",".exe")
+                 | otherwise       = (os,"")
diff --git a/hledger/hledger.cabal b/hledger/hledger.cabal
index 97e0c46bb..4337fe55f 100644
--- a/hledger/hledger.cabal
+++ b/hledger/hledger.cabal
@@ -150,6 +150,7 @@ library
     , directory
     , extra >=1.6.3
     , filepath
+    , githash >=0.1.2
     , hashable >=1.2.4
     , haskeline >=0.6
     , hledger-lib >=1.21.99 && <1.22
@@ -200,6 +201,7 @@ executable hledger
     , directory
     , extra >=1.6.3
     , filepath
+    , githash >=0.1.2
     , haskeline >=0.6
     , hledger
     , hledger-lib >=1.21.99 && <1.22
@@ -250,6 +252,7 @@ test-suite unittest
     , directory
     , extra >=1.6.3
     , filepath
+    , githash >=0.1.2
     , haskeline >=0.6
     , hledger
     , hledger-lib >=1.21.99 && <1.22
@@ -298,6 +301,7 @@ benchmark bench
     , directory
     , extra >=1.6.3
     , filepath
+    , githash >=0.1.2
     , haskeline >=0.6
     , hledger
     , hledger-lib >=1.21.99 && <1.22
diff --git a/hledger/package.yaml b/hledger/package.yaml
index c989d3586..cf669ca86 100644
--- a/hledger/package.yaml
+++ b/hledger/package.yaml
@@ -108,6 +108,7 @@ dependencies:
 - directory
 - extra >=1.6.3
 - filepath
+- githash >=0.1.2
 - haskeline >=0.6
 - megaparsec >=7.0.0 && <9.1
 - mtl >=2.2.1