diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f1b5cfa..0a17fad 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
+HONK_VERSION ?= develop
 
 all: honk
 
 honk: .preflightcheck schema.sql *.go go.mod
-	go build -mod=`ls -d vendor 2> /dev/null` -o honk
+	go build -ldflags="-X main.softwareVersion=$(HONK_VERSION)" -mod=`ls -d vendor 2> /dev/null` -o honk
 
 .preflightcheck: preflight.sh
 	@sh ./preflight.sh