diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 7441421c3..8a1ffefad 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -274,6 +274,7 @@ Makefile.in
 /mllib/.depend
 /mllib/common_gettext.ml
 /mllib/common_utils_tests
+/mllib/config.ml
 /mllib/dummy
 /mllib/libdir.ml
 /ocaml/bindtests.bc
diff --git a/builder/Makefile.am b/builder/Makefile.am
index caa2d9d11..086af62a7 100644
--- a/builder/Makefile.am
+++ b/builder/Makefile.am
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ OBJECTS = \
 	$(top_builddir)/mllib/fsync-c.o \
 	$(top_builddir)/mllib/fsync.cmx \
 	$(top_builddir)/mllib/password.cmx \
+	$(top_builddir)/mllib/config.cmx \
 	get_kernel.cmx \
 	downloader.cmx \
 	sigchecker.cmx \
diff --git a/builder/cmdline.ml b/builder/cmdline.ml
index 57e3efdef..17e625e23 100644
--- a/builder/cmdline.ml
+++ b/builder/cmdline.ml
@@ -39,10 +39,7 @@ let default_cachedir =
 
 let parse_cmdline () =
   let display_version () =
-    let g = new G.guestfs () in
-    let version = g#version () in
-    printf (f_"virt-builder %Ld.%Ld.%Ld%s\n")
-      version.G.major version.G.minor version.G.release version.G.extra;
+    printf "virt-builder %s\n" Config.package_version;
     exit 0
   in
 
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 603c4af79..eeca3fa60 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1674,6 +1674,7 @@ AC_CONFIG_FILES([Makefile
                  lua/Makefile
                  lua/examples/Makefile
                  mllib/Makefile
+                 mllib/config.ml
                  ocaml/META
                  ocaml/Makefile
                  ocaml/examples/Makefile
diff --git a/mllib/Makefile.am b/mllib/Makefile.am
index 3e750b3ff..32e0ddf7a 100644
--- a/mllib/Makefile.am
+++ b/mllib/Makefile.am
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ SOURCES = \
 	common_gettext.ml \
 	common_utils.ml \
 	common_utils_tests.ml \
+	config.ml \
 	crypt-c.c \
 	crypt.ml \
 	crypt.mli \
@@ -65,6 +66,7 @@ OBJECTS = \
 	progress-c.o \
 	uri-c.o \
 	crypt-c.o \
+	config.cmx \
 	libdir.cmx \
 	common_gettext.cmx \
 	common_utils.cmx \
diff --git a/mllib/config.ml.in b/mllib/config.ml.in
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d18bf7bdf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mllib/config.ml.in
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+(* configuration for mllib.
+ * Copyright (C) 2013 Red Hat Inc.
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
+ * with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+ * 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ *)
+
+let package_name = "@PACKAGE_NAME@"
+let package_version = "@PACKAGE_VERSION@"
diff --git a/po/POTFILES-ml b/po/POTFILES-ml
index 509e786de..185f87b7b 100644
--- a/po/POTFILES-ml
+++ b/po/POTFILES-ml
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ builder/sigchecker.ml
 mllib/common_gettext.ml
 mllib/common_utils.ml
 mllib/common_utils_tests.ml
+mllib/config.ml
 mllib/crypt.ml
 mllib/firstboot.ml
 mllib/fsync.ml
diff --git a/resize/Makefile.am b/resize/Makefile.am
index 914427794..8333ed90d 100644
--- a/resize/Makefile.am
+++ b/resize/Makefile.am
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ OBJECTS = \
 	$(top_builddir)/mllib/uRI.cmx \
 	$(top_builddir)/mllib/common_gettext.cmx \
 	$(top_builddir)/mllib/common_utils.cmx \
+	$(top_builddir)/mllib/config.cmx \
 	resize.cmx
 
 bin_SCRIPTS = virt-resize
diff --git a/resize/resize.ml b/resize/resize.ml
index 029e16cc0..3a143bd00 100644
--- a/resize/resize.ml
+++ b/resize/resize.ml
@@ -39,10 +39,7 @@ let infile, outfile, align_first, alignment, copy_boot_loader,
   lv_expands, machine_readable, ntfsresize_force, output_format,
   quiet, resizes, resizes_force, shrink, sparse =
   let display_version () =
-    let g = new G.guestfs () in
-    let version = g#version () in
-    printf (f_"virt-resize %Ld.%Ld.%Ld%s\n")
-      version.G.major version.G.minor version.G.release version.G.extra;
+    printf "virt-resize %s\n" Config.package_version;
     exit 0
   in
 
diff --git a/sparsify/Makefile.am b/sparsify/Makefile.am
index 28dce731e..98d9c707c 100644
--- a/sparsify/Makefile.am
+++ b/sparsify/Makefile.am
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ OBJECTS = \
 	$(top_builddir)/mllib/common_utils.cmx \
 	$(top_builddir)/mllib/tTY.cmx \
 	$(top_builddir)/mllib/progress.cmx \
+	$(top_builddir)/mllib/config.cmx \
 	statvfs-c.o \
 	sparsify.cmx
 
diff --git a/sparsify/sparsify.ml b/sparsify/sparsify.ml
index c7d2d567d..da0d7ccc6 100644
--- a/sparsify/sparsify.ml
+++ b/sparsify/sparsify.ml
@@ -39,10 +39,7 @@ let indisk, outdisk, check_tmpdir, compress, convert, debug_gc,
   format, ignores, machine_readable,
   option, quiet, verbose, trace, zeroes =
   let display_version () =
-    let g = new G.guestfs () in
-    let version = g#version () in
-    printf "virt-sparsify %Ld.%Ld.%Ld%s\n"
-      version.G.major version.G.minor version.G.release version.G.extra;
+    printf "virt-sparsify %s\n" Config.package_version;
     exit 0
   in
 
diff --git a/sysprep/Makefile.am b/sysprep/Makefile.am
index c5be5bada..a74d45576 100644
--- a/sysprep/Makefile.am
+++ b/sysprep/Makefile.am
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ OBJECTS = \
 	$(top_builddir)/mllib/random_seed.cmx \
 	$(top_builddir)/mllib/hostname.cmx \
 	$(top_builddir)/mllib/firstboot.cmx \
+	$(top_builddir)/mllib/config.cmx \
 	sysprep_operation.cmx \
 	$(patsubst %,sysprep_operation_%.cmx,$(operations)) \
 	main.cmx
diff --git a/sysprep/main.ml b/sysprep/main.ml
index cacf7b2e5..8712a76a6 100644
--- a/sysprep/main.ml
+++ b/sysprep/main.ml
@@ -46,10 +46,7 @@ let debug_gc, operations, g, selinux_relabel, quiet, mount_opts =
   let mount_opts = ref "" in
 
   let display_version () =
-    let g = new G.guestfs () in
-    let version = g#version () in
-    printf "virt-sysprep %Ld.%Ld.%Ld%s\n"
-      version.G.major version.G.minor version.G.release version.G.extra;
+    printf "virt-sysprep %s\n" Config.package_version;
     exit 0
   and add_file arg =
     let uri =