diff --git a/common.mk b/common.mk
index e99f93c8..b9569ca7 100644
--- a/common.mk
+++ b/common.mk
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ endif
 ifeq ($(wildcard .git),)
   # not in git repository
   VERSION := $(shell [ -f $(TOPDIR)/I3_VERSION ] && cat $(TOPDIR)/I3_VERSION | cut -d '-' -f 1)
-  I3_VERSION := $(shell [ -f $(TOPDIR)/I3_VERSION ] && cat $(TOPDIR)/I3_VERSION)
+  I3_VERSION := '$(shell [ -f $(TOPDIR)/I3_VERSION ] && cat $(TOPDIR)/I3_VERSION)'
 else
   VERSION := $(shell git describe --tags --abbrev=0)
   I3_VERSION := '$(shell git describe --tags --always) ($(shell git log --pretty=format:%cd --date=short -n1), branch \"$(shell git describe --tags --always --all | sed s:heads/::)\")'