diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 7361eb2eaa..623caf7d5e 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -1513,7 +1513,9 @@ libgit_version_library = static_library('git-version',
     'version.c',
     version_def_h,
   ],
-  c_args: libgit_c_args,
+  c_args: libgit_c_args + [
+    '-DGIT_VERSION_H="' + version_def_h.full_path() + '"',
+  ],
   dependencies: libgit_dependencies,
   include_directories: libgit_include_directories,
 )
diff --git a/version.c b/version.c
index 4d763ab48d..4786c4e0a5 100644
--- a/version.c
+++ b/version.c
@@ -1,8 +1,13 @@
 #include "git-compat-util.h"
 #include "version.h"
-#include "version-def.h"
 #include "strbuf.h"
 
+#ifndef GIT_VERSION_H
+# include "version-def.h"
+#else
+# include GIT_VERSION_H
+#endif
+
 const char git_version_string[] = GIT_VERSION;
 const char git_built_from_commit_string[] = GIT_BUILT_FROM_COMMIT;