diff --git a/QGCCommon.pri b/QGCCommon.pri
index 5caef6271b39c0608cef35048be2dc99c6614ac6..7f274829e6d6a77b8e8ec1d6f561dec07b67cd95 100644
--- a/QGCCommon.pri
+++ b/QGCCommon.pri
@@ -100,27 +100,38 @@ MobileBuild {
 
 exists ($$PWD/.git) {
     GIT_DESCRIBE = $$system(git --git-dir $$PWD/.git --work-tree $$PWD describe --always --tags)
-    GIT_HASH     = $$system(git rev-parse HEAD)
+    GIT_BRANCH   = $$system(git --git-dir $$PWD/.git --work-tree $$PWD rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
+    GIT_HASH     = $$system(git --git-dir $$PWD/.git --work-tree $$PWD rev-parse --short HEAD)
+    GIT_TIME     = $$system(git --git-dir $$PWD/.git --work-tree $$PWD show --oneline --format=\"%ci\" -s HEAD)
+
+    # determine if we're on a tag matching vX.Y.Z (stable release)
+    GIT_TAG      = $$system(git --git-dir $$PWD/.git --work-tree $$PWD describe --exact-match --tags HEAD)
+    contains(GIT_TAG, v[0-9].[0-9].[0-9]) {
+        # release version "vX.Y.Z"
+        GIT_VERSION = $${GIT_DESCRIBE}
+    } else {
+        # development version "Development branch:sha date"
+        GIT_VERSION = "Development $${GIT_BRANCH}:$${GIT_HASH} $${GIT_TIME}"
+    }
+
     VERSION      = $$replace(GIT_DESCRIBE, "v", "")
     VERSION      = $$replace(VERSION, "-", ".")
     VERSION      = $$section(VERSION, ".", 0, 3)
     MacBuild {
         MAC_VERSION  = $$section(VERSION, ".", 0, 2)
         MAC_BUILD    = $$section(VERSION, ".", 3, 3)
-        message(QGroundControl version $${MAC_VERSION} build $${MAC_BUILD} describe $${GIT_DESCRIBE} hash $${GIT_HASH})
+        message(QGroundControl version $${MAC_VERSION} build $${MAC_BUILD} describe $${GIT_VERSION})
     } else {
-        message(QGroundControl version $${VERSION} describe $${GIT_DESCRIBE} hash $${GIT_HASH})
+        message(QGroundControl version $${VERSION} describe $${GIT_VERSION})
     }
 } else {
-    GIT_DESCRIBE    = None
-    GIT_HASH        = None
+    GIT_VERSION     = None
     VERSION         = 0.0.0   # Marker to indicate out-of-tree build
     MAC_VERSION     = 0.0.0
     MAC_BUILD       = 0
 }
 
-DEFINES += GIT_TAG=\"\\\"$$GIT_DESCRIBE\\\"\"
-DEFINES += GIT_HASH=\"\\\"$$GIT_HASH\\\"\"
+DEFINES += GIT_VERSION=\"\\\"$$GIT_VERSION\\\"\"
 DEFINES += EIGEN_MPL2_ONLY
 
 # Installer configuration
diff --git a/src/QGCApplication.cc b/src/QGCApplication.cc
index a28fb372ff09233809b0a637210e34ff73f87238..697fc95c0bd6fdf0e35a828a2bfbf279a874787a 100644
--- a/src/QGCApplication.cc
+++ b/src/QGCApplication.cc
@@ -274,13 +274,7 @@ QGCApplication::QGCApplication(int &argc, char* argv[], bool unitTesting)
     setOrganizationName(QGC_ORG_NAME);
     setOrganizationDomain(QGC_ORG_DOMAIN);
 
-    QString versionString(GIT_TAG);
-    // stable versions are on tags (v1.2.3)
-    // development versions are full git describe versions (v1.2.3-18-g879e8b3)
-    if (versionString.length() > 8) {
-        versionString.append(" (Development)");
-    }
-    this->setApplicationVersion(versionString);
+    this->setApplicationVersion(QString(GIT_VERSION));
 
     // Set settings format
     QSettings::setDefaultFormat(QSettings::IniFormat);