diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index fbb9315..12d8be7 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -3,3 +3,5 @@ ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS = -I m4
 
 pkgconfigdir = $(libdir)/pkgconfig
 pkgconfig_DATA = libcrypto.pc libssl.pc openssl.pc
+
+EXTRA_DIST = VERSION
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 88613d6..e20d044 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-+AC_INIT([libressl], m4_esyscmd([tr -d '\n' < VERSION]))
+AC_INIT([libressl], m4_esyscmd([tr -d '\n' < VERSION]))
 AC_CANONICAL_HOST
 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE([subdir-objects])
 AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR([m4])