diff --git a/artiq/firmware/libbuild_artiq/lib.rs b/artiq/firmware/libbuild_artiq/lib.rs
index e47374610..da7133f26 100644
--- a/artiq/firmware/libbuild_artiq/lib.rs
+++ b/artiq/firmware/libbuild_artiq/lib.rs
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ extern crate walkdir;
 
 use std::env;
 use std::fs::File;
-use std::io::{BufRead, BufReader};
+use std::io::{Write, BufRead, BufReader};
 use std::path::Path;
 use std::process::Command;
 
@@ -27,6 +27,12 @@ pub fn git_describe() {
                 .unwrap();
     let id = id.split("-").collect::<Vec<_>>();
     let id = format!("{}+{}.{}", id[0], id[1], id[2]);
+
+    let out_dir = env::var("OUT_DIR").unwrap();
+    let dest_path = Path::new(&out_dir).join("git-describe");
+    let mut f = File::create(&dest_path).unwrap();
+    f.write(id.as_bytes()).unwrap();
+
     println!("cargo:rust-cfg=git_describe={:?}", id);
 
     println!("cargo:rerun-if-changed=../../../.git/HEAD");
diff --git a/artiq/firmware/runtime/lib.rs b/artiq/firmware/runtime/lib.rs
index 89e86c7e2..48a269348 100644
--- a/artiq/firmware/runtime/lib.rs
+++ b/artiq/firmware/runtime/lib.rs
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ mod analyzer;
 fn startup() {
     board::clock::init();
     info!("ARTIQ runtime starting...");
-    info!("software version {}", cfg!(git_describe));
+    info!("software version {}", include_str!(concat!(env!("OUT_DIR"), "/git-describe")));
     info!("gateware version {}", board::ident(&mut [0; 64]));
 
     let t = board::clock::get_ms();
diff --git a/artiq/firmware/satman/lib.rs b/artiq/firmware/satman/lib.rs
index 0eafbf6e0..6f20ba017 100644
--- a/artiq/firmware/satman/lib.rs
+++ b/artiq/firmware/satman/lib.rs
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ extern crate board;
 fn startup() {
     board::clock::init();
     info!("ARTIQ satellite manager starting...");
-    info!("software version {}", cfg!(git_describe));
+    info!("software version {}", include_str!(concat!(env!("OUT_DIR"), "/git-describe")));
     info!("gateware version {}", board::ident(&mut [0; 64]));
 
     loop {}