diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 0645d8a3f..090c1eb26 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -9,4 +9,3 @@ lib
 *.so
 
 src/std/build-deps
-src/gerbil/runtime/gx-version.scm
diff --git a/src/gerbil/runtime/gx-version.scm b/src/gerbil/runtime/gx-version.scm
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4b441f56e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/gerbil/runtime/gx-version.scm
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+(define (gerbil-version-string) "v0.12")