diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ebff2e2f5..0082a6d0c 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ lib
 *.so
 
 src/TAGS
-src/gerbil/runtime/gx-version.scm
 .build*
 doc/node_modules
 doc/.vuepress/dist
diff --git a/src/gerbil/runtime/gx-version.scm b/src/gerbil/runtime/gx-version.scm
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..537c92869
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/gerbil/runtime/gx-version.scm
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+(define (gerbil-version-string) "v0.16")