diff --git a/src/Makefile.housekeeping b/src/Makefile.housekeeping
index f607c4d3..d40f226f 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.housekeeping
+++ b/src/Makefile.housekeeping
@@ -659,6 +659,10 @@ CFLAGS_version += -DVERSION_MAJOR=$(VERSION_MAJOR) \
 		  -DVERSION_MINOR=$(VERSION_MINOR) \
 		  -DVERSION_PATCH=$(VERSION_PATCH) \
 		  -DVERSION="\"$(VERSION)\""
+# Make sure the version number gets updated on every git checkout
+ifneq ($(GITVERSION),)
+$(BIN)/version.o : ../.git/index
+endif
 
 # We automatically generate rules for any file mentioned in AUTO_SRCS
 # using the following set of templates.  It would be cleaner to use