diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index 50b80b945d..782b88c2f4 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -25,6 +25,12 @@ EXTRA_DIST += META AUTHORS COPYRIGHT LICENSE NEWS NOTICE README.md
 
 @CODE_COVERAGE_RULES@
 
+.PHONY: gitrev
+gitrev:
+	-${top_srcdir}/scripts/make_gitrev.sh
+
+BUILT_SOURCES = gitrev
+
 distclean-local::
 	-$(RM) -R autom4te*.cache
 	-find . \( -name SCCS -o -name BitKeeper -o -name .svn -o -name CVS \
@@ -40,7 +46,8 @@ distclean-local::
 all-local:
 	-${top_srcdir}/scripts/zfs-tests.sh -c
 
-dist-hook:
+dist-hook: gitrev
+	cp ${top_srcdir}/include/zfs_gitrev.h $(distdir)/include; \
 	sed -i 's/Release:[[:print:]]*/Release:      $(RELEASE)/' \
 		$(distdir)/META
 
diff --git a/copy-builtin b/copy-builtin
index 8be8b4381b..eaffbd2d26 100755
--- a/copy-builtin
+++ b/copy-builtin
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ then
 fi
 
 make clean || true
+scripts/make_gitrev.sh
 
 rm -rf "$KERNEL_DIR/include/zfs" "$KERNEL_DIR/fs/zfs"
 cp --recursive include "$KERNEL_DIR/include/zfs"
diff --git a/include/.gitignore b/include/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e6eb2116fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+/zfs_gitrev.h
diff --git a/include/spl/sys/sysmacros.h b/include/spl/sys/sysmacros.h
index e4bd80aa13..e11eaece5c 100644
--- a/include/spl/sys/sysmacros.h
+++ b/include/spl/sys/sysmacros.h
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@
 #define	DTRACE_PROBE4(a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i)	((void)0)
 
 /* Missing globals */
-extern char spl_version[32];
+extern char spl_gitrev[64];
 extern unsigned long spl_hostid;
 
 /* Missing misc functions */
diff --git a/module/spl/spl-generic.c b/module/spl/spl-generic.c
index 7c1ad390be..a22e93e363 100644
--- a/module/spl/spl-generic.c
+++ b/module/spl/spl-generic.c
@@ -45,9 +45,9 @@
 #include <sys/random.h>
 #include <sys/strings.h>
 #include <linux/kmod.h>
+#include "zfs_gitrev.h"
 
-char spl_version[32] = "SPL v" ZFS_META_VERSION "-" ZFS_META_RELEASE;
-EXPORT_SYMBOL(spl_version);
+char spl_gitrev[64] = ZFS_META_GITREV;
 
 /* BEGIN CSTYLED */
 unsigned long spl_hostid = 0;
diff --git a/module/spl/spl-proc.c b/module/spl/spl-proc.c
index 9c52924a48..a75bcc2145 100644
--- a/module/spl/spl-proc.c
+++ b/module/spl/spl-proc.c
@@ -659,9 +659,9 @@ static struct ctl_table spl_table[] = {
 	 * sysctl(8) prefers to go via /proc for portability.
 	 */
 	{
-		.procname	= "version",
-		.data		= spl_version,
-		.maxlen		= sizeof (spl_version),
+		.procname	= "gitrev",
+		.data		= spl_gitrev,
+		.maxlen		= sizeof (spl_gitrev),
 		.mode		= 0444,
 		.proc_handler	= &proc_dostring,
 	},
diff --git a/module/zfs/spa_history.c b/module/zfs/spa_history.c
index 969fdb000d..b590a1d57b 100644
--- a/module/zfs/spa_history.c
+++ b/module/zfs/spa_history.c
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 #include <sys/sunddi.h>
 #include <sys/cred.h>
 #include "zfs_comutil.h"
+#include "zfs_gitrev.h"
 #ifdef _KERNEL
 #include <sys/zone.h>
 #endif
@@ -617,8 +618,8 @@ spa_history_log_version(spa_t *spa, const char *operation, dmu_tx_t *tx)
 	utsname_t *u = utsname();
 
 	spa_history_log_internal(spa, operation, tx,
-	    "pool version %llu; software version %llu/%llu; uts %s %s %s %s",
-	    (u_longlong_t)spa_version(spa), SPA_VERSION, ZPL_VERSION,
+	    "pool version %llu; software version %s; uts %s %s %s %s",
+	    (u_longlong_t)spa_version(spa), ZFS_META_GITREV,
 	    u->nodename, u->release, u->version, u->machine);
 }
 
diff --git a/scripts/Makefile.am b/scripts/Makefile.am
index 28d6185628..de0d4795d3 100644
--- a/scripts/Makefile.am
+++ b/scripts/Makefile.am
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ EXTRA_DIST = \
 	dkms.postbuild \
 	enum-extract.pl \
 	kmodtool \
+	make_gitrev.sh \
 	paxcheck.sh \
 	zfs2zol-patch.sed \
 	cstyle.pl
diff --git a/scripts/make_gitrev.sh b/scripts/make_gitrev.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..04be09595c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/make_gitrev.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+#
+# CDDL HEADER START
+#
+# This file and its contents are supplied under the terms of the
+# Common Development and Distribution License ("CDDL"), version 1.0.
+# You may only use this file in accordance with the terms of version
+# 1.0 of the CDDL.
+#
+# A full copy of the text of the CDDL should have accompanied this
+# source.  A copy of the CDDL is also available via the Internet at
+# http://www.illumos.org/license/CDDL.
+#
+# CDDL HEADER END
+#
+
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2018 by Delphix. All rights reserved.
+#
+
+#
+# Generate zfs_gitrev.h.  Note that we need to do this for every
+# invocation of `make`, including for incremental builds.  Therefore we
+# can't use a zfs_gitrev.h.in file which would be processed only when
+# `configure` is run.
+#
+
+BASE_DIR=$(dirname "$0")
+
+file=${BASE_DIR}/../include/zfs_gitrev.h
+
+#
+# Set default file contents in case we bail.
+#
+rm -f "$file"
+# shellcheck disable=SC2039
+/bin/echo -e "#define\tZFS_META_GITREV \"unknown\"" >>"$file"
+
+#
+# Check if git is installed and we are in a git repo.
+#
+git rev-parse --git-dir > /dev/null 2>&1 || exit
+
+#
+# Check if there are uncommitted changes
+#
+git diff-index --quiet HEAD || exit
+
+rev=$(git describe 2>/dev/null) || exit
+
+rm -f "$file"
+# shellcheck disable=SC2039
+/bin/echo -e "#define\tZFS_META_GITREV \"${rev}\"" >>"$file"