diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c55acec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+# This Makefile is just for building the release distribution.
+# It's not needed for just building or running the program.
+
+PROGRAM=jl-mat2str2
+VERSION=$(shell cat VERSION)
+FILES=Mcode LICENSE README.md
+
+.PHONY: dist
+dist:
+	mkdir -p dist/${PROGRAM}-${VERSION}
+	cp -r $(FILES) dist/${PROGRAM}-${VERSION}
+	rm -f dist/${PROGRAM}-${VERSION}/*.DS_Store
+	cd dist; tar czf ${PROGRAM}-${VERSION}.tgz --exclude='*.DS_Store' ${PROGRAM}-${VERSION}
+	cd dist; zip -rq ${PROGRAM}-${VERSION}.zip ${PROGRAM}-${VERSION} -x '*.DS_Store'
+
+.PHONY: clean
+clean:
+	rm -rf dist/*
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3eefcb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+1.0.0