diff --git a/variables.pri b/variables.pri
index f7e3a601f..c54517396 100644
--- a/variables.pri
+++ b/variables.pri
@@ -32,7 +32,10 @@ staticlib {
     win32 {
       DLLDESTDIR = $${TOP_BUILD_DIR}/bin
       CONFIG += dll
-      CONFIG += skip_target_version_ext
+#skip_target_version_ext was introduced in Qt5.3 so we can't use it for Qt4.8 builds
+#so fallback to setting the empty VERSION trick.
+      VERSION=
+#      CONFIG += skip_target_version_ext
     }
   }
 }