diff --git a/cmd/ipfs/Makefile b/cmd/ipfs/Makefile
index 70275c5df..d2b7d8132 100644
--- a/cmd/ipfs/Makefile
+++ b/cmd/ipfs/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 all: install
-commit = `git rev-parse --short HEAD`
+commit = $(shell git rev-parse --short HEAD 2> /dev/null || echo unknown)
 ldflags = "-X "github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/repo/config".CurrentCommit=$(commit)"
 
 build:
diff --git a/repo/config/version.go b/repo/config/version.go
index 16d27834e..bdbe7190b 100644
--- a/repo/config/version.go
+++ b/repo/config/version.go
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 // CurrentVersionNumber is the current application's version literal
-const CurrentVersionNumber = "0.3.8"
+const CurrentVersionNumber = "0.3.9-dev"
 
 // CurrentCommit is the current git commit, this is set as a ldflag in the Makefile
 var CurrentCommit string