diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 7cc775a7..3d1aa8bf 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@ if (NOT DEFINED SYNERGY_VERSION_MAJOR)
         set (SYNERGY_VERSION_MAJOR $ENV{SYNERGY_VERSION_MAJOR})
     else()
         set (SYNERGY_VERSION_MAJOR 1)
-        message (WARNING
-            "SYNERGY_VERSION_MAJOR not set. Defaulted to ${SYNERGY_VERSION_MAJOR}")
+        set (SYNERGY_VERSION_WARNED 1)
+        message (WARNING "SYNERGY_VERSION_MAJOR not set. Defaulted to ${SYNERGY_VERSION_MAJOR}")
     endif()
 endif()
 
@@ -49,8 +49,10 @@ if (NOT DEFINED SYNERGY_VERSION_MINOR)
         set (SYNERGY_VERSION_MINOR $ENV{SYNERGY_VERSION_MINOR})
     else()
         set (SYNERGY_VERSION_MINOR 9)
-        message (WARNING
-            "(SYNERGY_VERSION_MINOR not set. Defaulted to ${SYNERGY_VERSION_MINOR}")
+        if (NOT ${SYNERGY_VERSION_WARNED})
+            set (SYNERGY_VERSION_WARNED 1)
+            message (WARNING "(SYNERGY_VERSION_MINOR not set. Defaulted to ${SYNERGY_VERSION_MINOR}")
+        endif()
     endif()
 endif()
 
@@ -59,8 +61,10 @@ if (NOT DEFINED SYNERGY_VERSION_PATCH)
         set (SYNERGY_VERSION_PATCH $ENV{SYNERGY_VERSION_PATCH})
     else()
         set (SYNERGY_VERSION_PATCH 0)
-        message (WARNING
-            "SYNERGY_VERSION_PATCH not set. Defaulted to ${SYNERGY_VERSION_PATCH}")
+        if (NOT ${SYNERGY_VERSION_WARNED})
+            set (SYNERGY_VERSION_WARNED 1)
+            message (WARNING "SYNERGY_VERSION_PATCH not set. Defaulted to ${SYNERGY_VERSION_PATCH}")
+        endif()
     endif()
 endif()
 
@@ -69,7 +73,10 @@ if (NOT DEFINED SYNERGY_VERSION_STAGE)
         set (SYNERGY_VERSION_STAGE $ENV{SYNERGY_VERSION_STAGE})
     else()
         set (SYNERGY_VERSION_STAGE "git")
-        message (WARNING "SYNERGY_VERSION_STAGE not set. Defaulted to '${SYNERGY_VERSION_STAGE}'")
+        if (NOT ${SYNERGY_VERSION_WARNED})
+            set (SYNERGY_VERSION_WARNED 1)
+            message (WARNING "SYNERGY_VERSION_STAGE not set. Defaulted to '${SYNERGY_VERSION_STAGE}'")
+        endif()
     endif()
 endif()
 
@@ -78,7 +85,7 @@ if (NOT DEFINED SYNERGY_REVISION)
         string (SUBSTRING $ENV{GIT_COMMIT} 0 8 SYNERGY_REVISION)
     elseif (SYNERGY_VERSION_STAGE STREQUAL "git")
         execute_process (
-            COMMAND git rev-parse --short HEAD
+            COMMAND git rev-parse --short=8 HEAD
             WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}
             OUTPUT_VARIABLE SYNERGY_REVISION
             OUTPUT_STRIP_TRAILING_WHITESPACE
@@ -86,32 +93,32 @@ if (NOT DEFINED SYNERGY_REVISION)
     endif()
 endif()
 
-if (NOT SYNERGY_REVISION MATCHES "[a-f0-9]{8}")
-    message (FATAL_ERROR "SYNERGY_VERSION='${SYNERGY_REVISION}' is invalid")
-endif()
-
-string (TIMESTAMP SYNERGY_BUILD_DATE "%Y%m%d" UTC)
-if (DEFINED ENV{BUILDS_TODAY})
-    set (SYNERGY_BUILDS_TODAY $ENV{BUILDS_TODAY})
+if (DEFINED SYNERGY_REVISION)
+    string(LENGTH ${SYNERGY_REVISION} SYNERGY_REVISION_LENGTH)
+    if (NOT ((SYNERGY_REVISION MATCHES "^[a-f0-9]+") AND (SYNERGY_REVISION_LENGTH EQUAL "8")))
+        message (FATAL_ERROR "SYNERGY_REVISION='${SYNERGY_REVISION}' should be a short git commit hash")
+    endif()
+    unset (SYNERGY_REVISION_LENGTH)
 else()
-    set (SYNERGY_BUILDS_TODAY 1)
-endif()
 
+endif()
 if (DEFINED ENV{BUILD_NUMBER})
     set (SYNERGY_BUILD_NUMBER $ENV{BUILD_NUMBER})
 else()
     set (SYNERGY_BUILD_NUMBER 1)
 endif()
 
-set (SYNERGY_VERSION "${SYNERGY_VERSION_MAJOR}.${SYNERGY_VERSION_MINOR}.${SYNERGY_VERSION_PATCH}")
-set (SYNERGY_SNAPSHOT_INFO "${SYNERGY_BUILD_DATE}.${SYNERGY_REVISION}")
+string (TIMESTAMP SYNERGY_BUILD_DATE "%Y%m%d" UTC)
 
 if (SYNERGY_VERSION_STAGE STREQUAL "git")
-    set (SYNERGY_VERSION_TAG "${SYNERGY_SNAPSHOT_INFO}")
+    set (SYNERGY_SNAPSHOT_INFO "${SYNERGY_BUILD_DATE}.${SYNERGY_REVISION}")
+    set (SYNERGY_VERSION_TAG "b${SYNERGY_BUILD_DATE}-${SYNERGY_REVISION}")
 else()
+    set (SYNERGY_SNAPSHOT_INFO "")
     set (SYNERGY_VERSION_TAG "${SYNERGY_VERSION_STAGE}")
 endif()
 
+set (SYNERGY_VERSION "${SYNERGY_VERSION_MAJOR}.${SYNERGY_VERSION_MINOR}.${SYNERGY_VERSION_PATCH}")
 set (SYNERGY_VERSION_STRING "${SYNERGY_VERSION}-${SYNERGY_VERSION_TAG}")
 message (STATUS "Full Synergy version string is " ${SYNERGY_VERSION_STRING})
 
@@ -452,6 +459,6 @@ if (${CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME} MATCHES "Linux")
 endif()
 
 else()
-	message (STATUS "NOT configuring the v1 installer")
+    message (STATUS "NOT configuring the v1 installer")
 endif()
 add_subdirectory (src)
diff --git a/dist/rpm/synergy.spec.in b/dist/rpm/synergy.spec.in
index e876c001..254475c8 100644
--- a/dist/rpm/synergy.spec.in
+++ b/dist/rpm/synergy.spec.in
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ Source: https://symless.com/synergy/downloads
 Vendor: Symless
 Packager: Symless <engineering@symless.com>
 License: GPLv2
-Release: @SYNERGY_BUILDS_TODAY@.@SYNERGY_SNAPSHOT_INFO@%{?dist}
+Release: @SYNERGY_BUILD_NUMBER@.@SYNERGY_SNAPSHOT_INFO@%{?dist}
 
 %description
 Synergy allows you to share one mouse and keyboard between multiple computers.