diff --git a/Makefile.am b/Makefile.am
index ce7f92bd..28a04bb8 100644
--- a/Makefile.am
+++ b/Makefile.am
@@ -10,3 +10,4 @@ EXTRA_DIST=scripts/kernel-doc
 pkgconfigdir = $(libdir)/pkgconfig
 pkgconfig_DATA = libwebsockets.pc
 
+
diff --git a/changelog b/changelog
index c865021e..8e559c13 100644
--- a/changelog
+++ b/changelog
@@ -1,6 +1,17 @@
 Changelog
 ---------
 
+(development since 1.1....)
+
+User api additions
+------------------
+
+ - lws_get_library_version() returns a const char * with a string like
+ 	 "1.1 9e7f737", representing the library version from configure.ac
+	 and the git HEAD hash the library was built from
+
+
+
 v1.1-chrome26-firefox18
 =======================
 
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index a96bd28d..175ea873 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 # Process this file with autoconf to produce a configure script.
 
 AC_PREREQ([2.61])
-AC_INIT(libwebsockets, 1.1, andy@warmcat.com)
+AC_INIT(libwebsockets, 1.1, andy@warmcat.com, libwebsockets, http://libwebsockets.org)
 AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR([test-server/test-server.c])
 AC_CONFIG_HEADERS([config.h])
 
@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@ AC_PROG_INSTALL
 AC_PROG_MAKE_SET
 AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR([m4])
 
+applyhash='CFLAGS+= -DLWS_LIBRARY_VERSION=\"$(PACKAGE_VERSION)\" -DLWS_BUILD_HASH=\"${shell git log -n 1 --pretty=%h}\"'
+AC_SUBST([applyhash])
+AM_SUBST_NOTMAKE([applyhash])
+
 #
 #
 #
diff --git a/lib/Makefile.am b/lib/Makefile.am
index f5cdf3c3..3a51c1ac 100644
--- a/lib/Makefile.am
+++ b/lib/Makefile.am
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+@applyhash@
+
 lib_LTLIBRARIES=libwebsockets.la
 include_HEADERS=libwebsockets.h
 dist_libwebsockets_la_SOURCES=libwebsockets.c \
@@ -42,7 +44,7 @@ else
 dist_libwebsockets_la_SOURCES += sha-1.c
 endif
 
-libwebsockets_la_CFLAGS=-Wall -std=gnu99 -pedantic -g
+libwebsockets_la_CFLAGS=-Wall -std=gnu99 -pedantic
 libwebsockets_la_LDFLAGS=
 
 if DISABLE_DEBUG
diff --git a/lib/libwebsockets.c b/lib/libwebsockets.c
index 75302d0d..4ed528a3 100644
--- a/lib/libwebsockets.c
+++ b/lib/libwebsockets.c
@@ -48,11 +48,16 @@ int openssl_websocket_private_data_index;
 #endif
 #endif
 
+#ifndef LWS_BUILD_HASH
+#define LWS_BUILD_HASH "unknown-build-hash"
+#endif
 
 static int log_level = LLL_ERR | LLL_WARN | LLL_NOTICE;
 static void lwsl_emit_stderr(int level, const char *line);
 static void (*lwsl_emit)(int level, const char *line) = lwsl_emit_stderr;
 
+static const char *library_version = LWS_LIBRARY_VERSION " " LWS_BUILD_HASH;
+
 static const char *log_level_names[] = {
 	"ERR",
 	"WARN",
@@ -66,6 +71,20 @@ static const char *log_level_names[] = {
 	"LATENCY",
 };
 
+/**
+ * lws_get_library_version: get version and git hash library built from
+ *
+ *	returns a const char * to a string like "1.1 178d78c"
+ *	representing the library version followed by the git head hash it
+ *	was built from
+ */
+
+const char *
+lws_get_library_version(void)
+{
+	return library_version;
+}
+
 int
 insert_wsi_socket_into_fds(struct libwebsocket_context *context, struct libwebsocket *wsi)
 {
@@ -1492,6 +1511,7 @@ libwebsocket_create_context(int port, const char *interf,
 #endif
 
 	lwsl_notice("Initial logging level %d\n", log_level);
+	lwsl_notice("Library version: %s\n", library_version);
 	lwsl_info(" LWS_MAX_HEADER_NAME_LENGTH: %u\n", LWS_MAX_HEADER_NAME_LENGTH);
 	lwsl_info(" LWS_MAX_HEADER_LEN: %u\n", LWS_MAX_HEADER_LEN);
 	lwsl_info(" LWS_INITIAL_HDR_ALLOC: %u\n", LWS_INITIAL_HDR_ALLOC);
diff --git a/lib/libwebsockets.h b/lib/libwebsockets.h
index 4acabcd1..f5544b19 100644
--- a/lib/libwebsockets.h
+++ b/lib/libwebsockets.h
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /*
  * libwebsockets - small server side websockets and web server implementation
  *
- * Copyright (C) 2010 Andy Green <andy@warmcat.com>
+ * Copyright (C) 2010-2013 Andy Green <andy@warmcat.com>
  *
  *  This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
  *  modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
@@ -868,6 +868,9 @@ lws_b64_encode_string(const char *in, int in_len, char *out, int out_size);
 LWS_EXTERN int
 lws_b64_decode_string(const char *in, char *out, int out_size);
 
+LWS_EXTERN const char *
+lws_get_library_version(void);
+
 /*
  * Note: this is not normally needed as a user api.  It's provided in case it is
  * useful when integrating with other app poll loop service code.
diff --git a/libwebsockets-api-doc.html b/libwebsockets-api-doc.html
index 46fe49ac..e6b424fc 100644
--- a/libwebsockets-api-doc.html
+++ b/libwebsockets-api-doc.html
@@ -85,6 +85,23 @@ protocol supported, or the specific protocol ordinal
 This function creates a connection to a remote server
 </blockquote>
 <hr>
+<h2>lws_get_library_version - </h2>
+<i>const char *</i>
+<b>lws_get_library_version</b>
+(<i></i> <b>void</b>)
+<h3>Arguments</h3>
+<dl>
+<dt><b>void</b>
+<dd>no arguments
+</dl>
+<h3>Description</h3>
+<blockquote>
+<p>
+returns a const char * to a string like "1.1 178d78c"
+representing the library version followed by the git head hash it
+was built from
+</blockquote>
+<hr>
 <h2>libwebsockets_hangup_on_client - Server calls to terminate client connection</h2>
 <i>void</i>
 <b>libwebsockets_hangup_on_client</b>