diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index fd302101..57513b0e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -48,8 +48,8 @@ dist: distclean
 	# Only copy source code from i3-input
 	mkdir i3-${VERSION}/i3-input
 	find i3-input -maxdepth 1 -type f \( -name "*.c" -or -name "*.mk" -or -name "*.h" -or -name "Makefile" \) -exec cp '{}' i3-${VERSION}/i3-input \;
-	echo -n ${I3_VERSION} > i3-${VERSION}/I3_VERSION
-	echo -n ${VERSION} > i3-${VERSION}/VERSION
+	cp I3_VERSION i3-${VERSION}/I3_VERSION
+	cp VERSION i3-${VERSION}/VERSION
 	# Pre-generate a manpage to allow distributors to skip this step and save some dependencies
 	$(MAKE) mans
 	cp man/*.1 i3-${VERSION}/man/