diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 4476887d..85b01dd1 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ dist: distclean
 	# Only copy source code from i3-input
 	mkdir i3-${VERSION}/i3-input
 	find i3-input -maxdepth 1 -type f \( -name "*.c" -or -name "*.h" -or -name "Makefile" \) -exec cp '{}' i3-${VERSION}/i3-input \;
-	sed -e 's/^GIT_VERSION:=\(.*\)/GIT_VERSION=${GIT_VERSION}/g;s/^VERSION:=\(.*\)/VERSION=${VERSION}/g' common.mk > i3-${VERSION}/common.mk
+	sed -e 's/^GIT_VERSION:=\(.*\)/GIT_VERSION:=$(shell echo '${GIT_VERSION}' | sed 's/\\/\\\\/g')/g;s/^VERSION:=\(.*\)/VERSION:=${VERSION}/g' common.mk > i3-${VERSION}/common.mk
 	# Pre-generate a manpage to allow distributors to skip this step and save some dependencies
 	make -C man
 	cp man/*.1 i3-${VERSION}/man/