diff --git a/config/functions b/config/functions
index ea4ebc1e1d..36f4fd40f5 100644
--- a/config/functions
+++ b/config/functions
@@ -115,8 +115,9 @@ add_group() {
 }
 
 get_version() {
-
-  BUILD_DATE=`date +%Y%m%d%H%M%S`
+  if [ -z "$BUILD_DATE" ]; then
+    BUILD_DATE=`date +%Y%m%d%H%M%S`
+  fi
 
   if [ "$OPENELEC_VERSION" = devel -o "$OPENELEC_VERSION" = debug ]; then
     GIT_BUILD=`git log --pretty=format:'' | wc -l`