diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
old mode 100755
new mode 100644
index 1c95bb8..14e42a4
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ all: quicktree
 quicktree : $(QUICKTREEOBJ)
 	$(CC) $(LFLAGS) -o $@ $(QUICKTREEOBJ) -lm
 
-$(OBJ)/quicktree.o : $(SRC)/quicktree.c 
+$(OBJ)/quicktree.o : $(SRC)/quicktree.c $(INC)/version.h
 	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o $(OBJ)/quicktree.o $(SRC)/quicktree.c
 
 $(OBJ)/align.o : $(SRC)/align.c $(INC)/align.h
diff --git a/include/version.h b/include/version.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..accc0de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/version.h
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/**********************************************************************
+ * File: version.h
+ * Author: Torsten Seemann
+ *-------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ *-------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * NOTES:
+ * This file contains general utiliy functions used throughout the 
+ * application, such as those for memory management and error
+ * messaging. I have used it as a place to put other general stuff
+ * until I have somewhere better to put it.
+ **********************************************************************/
+#ifndef _VERSION
+#define _VERSION
+
+#define VERSION_MAJOR	2
+#define VERSION_MINOR	0
+
+#endif
diff --git a/src/quicktree.c b/src/quicktree.c
index fa04f9d..ecd5437 100644
--- a/src/quicktree.c
+++ b/src/quicktree.c
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 #include "buildtree.h"
 #include "distancemat.h"
 #include "tree.h"
-
+#include "version.h"
 
 /********************* command-line options * ************************/
 
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@ Advanced options :\n\
 -kimura          : Use the kimura translation for pairwise distances\n\
                      (ignored for distance matrix inputs)\n\
 -boot <n>        : Calcuate bootstrap values with n iterations\n\
-                     (ignored for distance matrix outputs)\n\n\
+                     (ignored for distance matrix outputs)\n\
+-v               : print version and exit\n\n\
 *Use sreformat, part of the HMMer package to convert your alignment to Stockholm format\n";
 
 static struct Option options[] = {
@@ -53,7 +54,8 @@ static struct Option options[] = {
     { "-upgma", NO_ARGS },
     { "-kimura", NO_ARGS },
     { "-boot",   INT_ARG },
-    { "-h",      NO_ARGS }
+    { "-h",      NO_ARGS },
+    { "-v",      NO_ARGS },
 };
 
 static unsigned int use_kimura = 0; 
@@ -191,6 +193,10 @@ int main (int argc, char *argv[]) {
       fprintf( stderr, "%s", usage );
       exit(0);
     }
+    else if (strcmp(optname, "-v") == 0) {
+      printf( "quicktree %d.%d\n", VERSION_MAJOR, VERSION_MINOR );
+      exit(0);
+    }
   }
 
   if (argc - optindex != 1) {
diff --git a/src/util.c b/src/util.c
old mode 100755
new mode 100644