diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3897cc122
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# Include version information on `git archive'
+/internal/version.go export-subst
diff --git a/internal/command/command.go b/internal/command/command.go
index 1deee41e1..a4c76ab8d 100644
--- a/internal/command/command.go
+++ b/internal/command/command.go
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ func New() *Command {
 	}
 
 	if flags.Version {
-		fmt.Println("Icinga DB version:", internal.Version)
+		internal.Version.Print()
 		os.Exit(0)
 	}
 
diff --git a/internal/version.go b/internal/version.go
index 75177ff97..2cde66869 100644
--- a/internal/version.go
+++ b/internal/version.go
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
 package internal
 
-var Version = "v1.0.0-rc2-dev"
+import (
+	"github.com/icinga/icingadb/pkg/version"
+)
+
+// Version contains version and Git commit information.
+//
+// The placeholders are replaced on `git archive` using the `export-subst` attribute.
+var Version = version.Version("1.0.0-rc2", "$Format:%(describe)$", "$Format:%H$")
diff --git a/pkg/version/version.go b/pkg/version/version.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1c28fae4a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/version/version.go
@@ -0,0 +1,170 @@
+package version
+
+import (
+	"bufio"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"runtime"
+	"runtime/debug"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+type VersionInfo struct {
+	Version string
+	Commit  string
+}
+
+// Version determines version and commit information based on multiple data sources:
+//  - Version information dynamically added by `git archive` in the remaining to parameters.
+//  - A hardcoded version number passed as first parameter.
+//  - Commit information added to the binary by `go build`.
+//
+// It's supposed to be called like this in combination with setting the `export-subst` attribute for the corresponding
+// file in .gitattributes:
+//
+//     var Version = version.Version("1.0.0-rc2", "$Format:%(describe)$", "$Format:%H$")
+//
+// When exported using `git archive`, the placeholders are replaced in the file and this version information is
+// preferred. Otherwise the hardcoded version is used and augmented with commit information from the build metadata.
+func Version(version, gitDescribe, gitHash string) *VersionInfo {
+	if !strings.HasPrefix(gitDescribe, "$") && !strings.HasPrefix(gitHash, "$") {
+		return &VersionInfo{
+			Version: gitDescribe,
+			Commit:  gitHash,
+		}
+	} else {
+		commit := ""
+
+		if info, ok := debug.ReadBuildInfo(); ok {
+			modified := false
+
+			for _, setting := range info.Settings {
+				switch setting.Key {
+				case "vcs.revision":
+					commit = setting.Value
+				case "vcs.modified":
+					modified, _ = strconv.ParseBool(setting.Value)
+				}
+			}
+
+			const hashLen = 7 // Same truncation length for the commit hash as used by git describe.
+
+			if len(commit) >= hashLen {
+				version += "-g" + commit[:hashLen]
+
+				if modified {
+					version += "-dirty"
+					commit += " (modified)"
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
+		return &VersionInfo{
+			Version: version,
+			Commit:  commit,
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// Print writes verbose version output to stdout.
+func (v *VersionInfo) Print() {
+	fmt.Println("Icinga DB version:", v.Version)
+	fmt.Println()
+
+	fmt.Println("Build information:")
+	fmt.Printf("  Go version: %s (%s, %s)\n", runtime.Version(), runtime.GOOS, runtime.GOARCH)
+	if v.Commit != "" {
+		fmt.Println("  Git commit:", v.Commit)
+	}
+
+	if r, err := readOsRelease(); err == nil {
+		fmt.Println()
+		fmt.Println("System information:")
+		fmt.Println("  Platform:", r.Name)
+		fmt.Println("  Platform version:", r.DisplayVersion())
+	}
+}
+
+// osRelease contains the information obtained from the os-release file.
+type osRelease struct {
+	Name      string
+	Version   string
+	VersionId string
+	BuildId   string
+}
+
+// DisplayVersion returns the most suitable version information for display purposes.
+func (o *osRelease) DisplayVersion() string {
+	if o.Version != "" {
+		// Most distributions set VERSION
+		return o.Version
+	} else if o.VersionId != "" {
+		// Some only set VERSION_ID (Alpine Linux for example)
+		return o.VersionId
+	} else if o.BuildId != "" {
+		// Others only set BUILD_ID (Arch Linux for example)
+		return o.BuildId
+	} else {
+		return "(unknown)"
+	}
+}
+
+// readOsRelease reads and parses the os-release file.
+func readOsRelease() (*osRelease, error) {
+	for _, path := range []string{"/etc/os-release", "/usr/lib/os-release"} {
+		f, err := os.Open(path)
+		if err != nil {
+			if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+				continue // Try next path.
+			} else {
+				return nil, err
+			}
+		}
+
+		o := &osRelease{
+			Name: "Linux", // Suggested default as per os-release(5) man page.
+		}
+
+		scanner := bufio.NewScanner(f)
+		for scanner.Scan() {
+			line := scanner.Text()
+			if strings.HasPrefix(line, "#") {
+				continue // Ignore comment.
+			}
+
+			parts := strings.SplitN(line, "=", 2)
+			if len(parts) != 2 {
+				continue // Ignore empty or possibly malformed line.
+			}
+
+			key := parts[0]
+			val := parts[1]
+
+			// Unquote strings. This isn't fully compliant with the specification which allows using some shell escape
+			// sequences. However, typically quotes are only used to allow whitespace within the value.
+			if len(val) >= 2 && (val[0] == '"' || val[0] == '\'') && val[0] == val[len(val)-1] {
+				val = val[1 : len(val)-1]
+			}
+
+			switch key {
+			case "NAME":
+				o.Name = val
+			case "VERSION":
+				o.Version = val
+			case "VERSION_ID":
+				o.VersionId = val
+			case "BUILD_ID":
+				o.BuildId = val
+			}
+		}
+		if err := scanner.Err(); err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+
+		return o, nil
+	}
+
+	return nil, errors.New("os-release file not found")
+}