diff --git a/ShellB3/shallbethree.sh b/ShellB3/shallbethree.sh
index 63e7b1e5c2edcb1b63536b3bd431b3223c411cf6..5ead2499243bb9e1119fc875f7101d35748e13bf 100755
--- a/ShellB3/shallbethree.sh
+++ b/ShellB3/shallbethree.sh
@@ -2002,7 +2002,11 @@ test_graphics() {
 }
 
 src_dist() {
+if [ -d ../.git ] ; then
+    git rev-parse --verify HEAD >VERSION.txt
+else
     svnversion >VERSION.txt
+fi
     pushd ..
     set -x
     zip -r -9 ShellB3-${REVDATE}-r${REVNUM}.zip ShellB3/shallbethree.sh ShellB3/README.txt ShellB3/VERSION.txt ShellB3/src ShellB3/sbin/* -x '*.svn*' || echo "source packaging failure"