diff --git a/library/Core.cpp b/library/Core.cpp
index d187ccd49..823c68a59 100644
--- a/library/Core.cpp
+++ b/library/Core.cpp
@@ -241,6 +241,17 @@ struct sortable
     };
 };
 
+static string dfhack_version_desc()
+{
+    stringstream s;
+    s << Version::dfhack_version() << " ";
+    if (Version::is_release())
+        s << "(release)";
+    else
+        s << "(development build " << Version::git_description() << ")";
+    return s.str();
+}
+
 static std::string getScriptHelp(std::string path, std::string helpprefix)
 {
     ifstream script(path.c_str());
@@ -611,7 +622,7 @@ command_result Core::runCommand(color_ostream &con, const std::string &first_, v
                           "  reload PLUGIN|-all    - Reload a plugin or all loaded plugins.\n"
                          );
 
-                con.print("\nDFHack version %s.\n", Version::dfhack_version());
+                con.print("\nDFHack version %s\n", dfhack_version_desc().c_str());
             }
             else if (parts.size() == 1)
             {
@@ -1258,7 +1269,7 @@ void fIOthread(void * iodata)
     con.print("DFHack is ready. Have a nice day!\n"
               "DFHack version %s\n"
               "Type in '?' or 'help' for general help, 'ls' to see all commands.\n",
-              Version::dfhack_version());
+              dfhack_version_desc().c_str());
 
     int clueless_counter = 0;
     while (true)
diff --git a/library/DFHackVersion.cpp b/library/DFHackVersion.cpp
index cc56af180..d3200a42f 100644
--- a/library/DFHackVersion.cpp
+++ b/library/DFHackVersion.cpp
@@ -24,5 +24,14 @@ namespace DFHack {
         {
             return DFHACK_GIT_COMMIT;
         }
+
+        bool is_release()
+        {
+        #ifdef DFHACK_GIT_TAGGED
+            return true;
+        #else
+            return false;
+        #endif
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/library/LuaApi.cpp b/library/LuaApi.cpp
index 698b4ba5a..996cae8f1 100644
--- a/library/LuaApi.cpp
+++ b/library/LuaApi.cpp
@@ -1417,6 +1417,7 @@ static const LuaWrapper::FunctionReg dfhack_module[] = {
     WRAP_VERSION_FUNC(getCompiledDFVersion, df_version),
     WRAP_VERSION_FUNC(getGitDescription, git_description),
     WRAP_VERSION_FUNC(getGitCommit, git_commit),
+    WRAP_VERSION_FUNC(isRelease, is_release),
     { NULL, NULL }
 };
 
diff --git a/library/git-describe.cmake b/library/git-describe.cmake
index 9c5e7a874..e1216edad 100644
--- a/library/git-describe.cmake
+++ b/library/git-describe.cmake
@@ -4,12 +4,20 @@ execute_process(COMMAND ${GIT_EXECUTABLE} describe --tags --long
 execute_process(COMMAND ${GIT_EXECUTABLE} rev-parse HEAD
     WORKING_DIRECTORY "${dfhack_SOURCE_DIR}"
     OUTPUT_VARIABLE DFHACK_GIT_COMMIT)
+execute_process(COMMAND ${GIT_EXECUTABLE} describe --tags --exact-match
+    WORKING_DIRECTORY "${dfhack_SOURCE_DIR}"
+    RESULT_VARIABLE DFHACK_GIT_TAGGED_RESULT
+    OUTPUT_QUIET ERROR_QUIET)
 string(STRIP ${DFHACK_GIT_DESCRIPTION} DFHACK_GIT_DESCRIPTION)
 file(WRITE ${dfhack_SOURCE_DIR}/library/include/git-describe.tmp.h
     "#define DFHACK_GIT_DESCRIPTION \"${DFHACK_GIT_DESCRIPTION}\"\n")
 string(STRIP ${DFHACK_GIT_COMMIT} DFHACK_GIT_COMMIT)
 file(APPEND ${dfhack_SOURCE_DIR}/library/include/git-describe.tmp.h
-    "#define DFHACK_GIT_COMMIT \"${DFHACK_GIT_COMMIT}\"")
+    "#define DFHACK_GIT_COMMIT \"${DFHACK_GIT_COMMIT}\"\n")
+if(${DFHACK_GIT_TAGGED_RESULT} EQUAL 0)
+    file(APPEND ${dfhack_SOURCE_DIR}/library/include/git-describe.tmp.h
+        "#define DFHACK_GIT_TAGGED\n")
+endif()
 execute_process(COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy_if_different
     ${dfhack_SOURCE_DIR}/library/include/git-describe.tmp.h
     ${dfhack_SOURCE_DIR}/library/include/git-describe.h)
diff --git a/library/include/DFHackVersion.h b/library/include/DFHackVersion.h
index 359ed0eba..f035e616a 100644
--- a/library/include/DFHackVersion.h
+++ b/library/include/DFHackVersion.h
@@ -6,13 +6,15 @@ namespace DFHack {
         const char *dfhack_release();
         const char *git_description();
         const char *git_commit();
+        bool is_release();
     }
 }
 
 #ifndef NO_DFHACK_VERSION_MACROS
-#define DF_VERSION DFHack::Version::df_version()
-#define DFHACK_RELEASE DFHack::Version::dfhack_release()
-#define DFHACK_VERSION DFHack::Version::dfhack_version()
-#define DFHACK_GIT_DESCRIPTION DFHack::Version::git_description()
-#define DFHACK_GIT_COMMIT DFHack::Version::git_commit()
+    #define DF_VERSION (DFHack::Version::df_version())
+    #define DFHACK_RELEASE (DFHack::Version::dfhack_release())
+    #define DFHACK_VERSION (DFHack::Version::dfhack_version())
+    #define DFHACK_GIT_DESCRIPTION (DFHack::Version::git_description())
+    #define DFHACK_GIT_COMMIT (DFHack::Version::git_commit())
+    #define DFHACK_IS_RELEASE (DFHack::Version::is_release())
 #endif