diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 6159a1834..39e961b8b 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -5,9 +5,12 @@ KOR_BASE?=base
 # able to fail:
 -include $(KOR_BASE)/Makefile.defs
 
-# we want VERSION to carry the version of koreader, not koreader-base
+# We want VERSION to carry the version of the KOReader main repo, not that of koreader-base
 VERSION:=$(shell git describe HEAD)
-VERSION:=$(VERSION)_$(shell git describe HEAD | xargs git show -s --format=format:"%cd" --date=short)
+# Only append date if we're not on a whole version, like v2018.11
+ifneq (,$(findstring -,$(VERSION)))
+	VERSION:=$(VERSION)_$(shell git describe HEAD | xargs git show -s --format=format:"%cd" --date=short)
+endif
 
 # set PATH to find CC in managed toolchains
 ifeq ($(TARGET), android)
diff --git a/kodev b/kodev
index 0739f964e..620b4cbfd 100755
--- a/kodev
+++ b/kodev
@@ -2,7 +2,10 @@
 
 CURDIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
 VERSION=$(git describe HEAD)
-VERSION=${VERSION}_$(git describe HEAD | xargs git show -s --format=format:"%cd" --date=short)
+# Only append date if we're not on a whole version, like v2018.11
+if $VERSION | grep -; then
+    VERSION=${VERSION}_$(git describe HEAD | xargs git show -s --format=format:"%cd" --date=short)
+fi
 
 # Default Android build to arm.
 ANDROID_ARCH="${ANDROID_ARCH:-arm}"