diff --git a/build.rs b/build.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..28e73ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+use std::{env, fs, path::Path, process::Command};
+
+fn command_output(command: &str, args: &[&str]) -> String {
+    Command::new(command)
+        .args(args)
+        .output()
+        .ok()
+        .filter(|output| output.status.success())
+        .map(|output| String::from_utf8_lossy(&output.stdout).trim().to_owned())
+        .filter(|output| !output.is_empty())
+        .unwrap_or_else(|| "unknown".to_owned())
+}
+
+fn main() {
+    let out_dir = env::var_os("OUT_DIR").expect("OUT_DIR is set by Cargo");
+    let version = env::var("CARGO_PKG_VERSION").unwrap_or_else(|_| "unknown".to_owned());
+    let rustc = env::var("RUSTC").unwrap_or_else(|_| "rustc".to_owned());
+    let rustc_version = command_output(&rustc, &["--version"]);
+    let target = env::var("TARGET").unwrap_or_else(|_| "unknown".to_owned());
+
+    println!("cargo:rustc-env=TG_BOT_RUSTC_VERSION={rustc_version}");
+    println!("cargo:rustc-env=TG_BOT_TARGET={target}");
+
+    let version_text = format!(
+        "{}\nbuild-time: {}\ncommit: {}\ntarget: {}\nrustc: {}",
+        version,
+        command_output("date", &["-u", "+%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S UTC"]),
+        command_output("git", &["rev-parse", "--short", "HEAD"]),
+        target,
+        rustc_version,
+    );
+
+    fs::write(Path::new(&out_dir).join("version.txt"), version_text)
+        .expect("failed to write generated version information");
+}
diff --git a/src/commands/version.rs b/src/commands/version.rs
index 23f7a04..2f9797f 100644
--- a/src/commands/version.rs
+++ b/src/commands/version.rs
@@ -1,16 +1,29 @@
-use crate::{Context, Error};
-use tracing::{trace, debug};
 use crate::messaging::trace_message;
+use crate::{Context, Error};
+use tracing::{debug, trace};
+
+const VERSION: &str = include_str!(concat!(env!("OUT_DIR"), "/version.txt"));
 
 /// Get the bot's current version
 #[poise::command(slash_command, prefix_command)]
 pub async fn version(ctx: Context<'_>) -> Result<(), Error> {
-    trace!("version command called by user {} in guild {}", ctx.author().id.get(), ctx.guild_id().unwrap().get());
-    trace!("Loading version from environment");
-    let version = std::env::var("CARGO_PKG_VERSION").unwrap_or_else(|_| "Unknown".to_string());
-    let msg = format!("Current version: {}", version);
-    trace_message(msg.clone(), ctx.channel_id().to_string(), ctx.guild_id().unwrap().to_string()).await;
+    trace!(
+        "version command called by user {} in guild {}",
+        ctx.author().id.get(),
+        ctx.guild_id().unwrap().get()
+    );
+    trace!("Loading embedded version information");
+    let msg = format!("Current version:\n{VERSION}");
+    trace_message(
+        msg.clone(),
+        ctx.channel_id().to_string(),
+        ctx.guild_id().unwrap().to_string(),
+    )
+    .await;
     ctx.say(msg).await?;
-    debug!("Version command performed for user {} with version {}", ctx.author().name, version);
+    debug!(
+        "Version command performed for user {} with version information",
+        ctx.author().name
+    );
     Ok(())
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}