diff --git a/make/rpmdist.mk b/make/rpmdist.mk
index 5d9e09e0..1fe48cfa 100644
--- a/make/rpmdist.mk
+++ b/make/rpmdist.mk
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ define increase_build_number
 	if ! grep -q HASH CVS/Entries; then \
 		cvs add HASH ;\
 	fi ;\
-	cvs commit -m "o $(RPM_VERSION)" HASH VERSION
+	cvs commit -m "o $(shell cat VERSION)" HASH VERSION
 endef
 
 define check_reinstall_old
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ rpm-release: rpm-update-release
 		if ! grep -q $(LAST_RPM_VERSION_FILE) CVS/Entries; then \
 			cvs add $(LAST_RPM_VERSION_FILE) ;\
 		fi ;\
-		cvs commit -m "o $(RPM_VERSION)" $(LAST_RPM_VERSION_FILE) ;\
+		cvs commit -m "o $(shell cat $(LAST_RPM_VERSION_FILE))" $(LAST_RPM_VERSION_FILE) ;\
 	else \
 		echo "+ version matches latest released rpm version" ;\
 	fi