diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index 16ce37b1..2675b303 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -17,17 +17,16 @@
 
   outputs = { self, nixpkgs, flake-utils, crane, rust-overlay, ... }:
     let
-      git_version = self.lastModifiedDate;
       compile = import ./nix/compile.nix;
     in
     flake-utils.lib.eachDefaultSystem (system:
       let
         pkgs = nixpkgs.legacyPackages.${system};
         packageFor = target: release: (compile {
-          inherit system git_version target nixpkgs crane rust-overlay release;
+          inherit system target nixpkgs crane rust-overlay release;
         }).garage;
         testWith = extraTestEnv: (compile {
-          inherit system git_version nixpkgs crane rust-overlay extraTestEnv;
+          inherit system nixpkgs crane rust-overlay extraTestEnv;
           release = false;
         }).garage-test;
       in
@@ -59,7 +58,7 @@
         devShells =
           let
             targets = compile {
-              inherit system git_version nixpkgs crane rust-overlay;
+              inherit system nixpkgs crane rust-overlay;
             };
           in
           {
diff --git a/nix/compile.nix b/nix/compile.nix
index 83ea8240..1e1bbb38 100644
--- a/nix/compile.nix
+++ b/nix/compile.nix
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
   /* parameters */
   system,
-  git_version ? "unknown",
+  git_version ? null,
   target ? null,
   release ? false,
   features ? null,
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ let
     {
       inherit src;
       pname = "garage";
-      version = "none";
+      version = "dev";
 
       strictDeps = true;
       cargoExtraArgs = "--locked --features ${featuresStr}";
@@ -167,9 +167,11 @@ in rec {
     cargoArtifacts = garage-deps;
 
     doCheck = false;
-    version = git_version;
-    GIT_VERSION = git_version;
-  });
+  } //
+    (if git_version != null then {
+      version = git_version;
+      GIT_VERSION = git_version;
+    } else {}));
 
   garage-test-deps = craneLib.buildDepsOnly (testArgs // {
     cargoArtifacts = garage;