diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index f9045df615a..cd6efced4ce 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -21,9 +21,9 @@ ifeq ($(shell $(GO) env GOOS),linux)
 	endif
 endif
 GO_BUILD := $(GO) build -trimpath $(GO_BUILDMODE) $(EXTRA_FLAGS) -tags "$(BUILDTAGS)" \
-	-ldflags "-X main.gitCommit=$(COMMIT) -X main.version=$(VERSION) $(EXTRA_LDFLAGS)"
+	-ldflags "-X main.gitCommit=$(COMMIT) $(EXTRA_LDFLAGS)"
 GO_BUILD_STATIC := CGO_ENABLED=1 $(GO) build -trimpath $(EXTRA_FLAGS) -tags "$(BUILDTAGS) netgo osusergo" \
-	-ldflags "-extldflags -static -X main.gitCommit=$(COMMIT) -X main.version=$(VERSION) $(EXTRA_LDFLAGS)"
+	-ldflags "-extldflags -static -X main.gitCommit=$(COMMIT) $(EXTRA_LDFLAGS)"
 
 GPG_KEYID ?= asarai@suse.de
 
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 56a6066f8c5..6c11ab790b8 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	_ "embed"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
@@ -17,9 +18,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/urfave/cli"
 )
 
-// version must be set from the contents of VERSION file by go build's
-// -X main.version= option in the Makefile.
-var version = "unknown"
+// version is automatically set from the contents of VERSION file on go1.16+.
+//go:embed VERSION
+var version string
 
 // gitCommit will be the hash that the binary was built from
 // and will be populated by the Makefile
@@ -57,7 +58,7 @@ func main() {
 	app.Name = "runc"
 	app.Usage = usage
 
-	v := []string{version}
+	v := []string{strings.TrimSpace(version)}
 
 	if gitCommit != "" {
 		v = append(v, "commit: "+gitCommit)