diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 004a47be6..7d69544e7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ jobs:
     steps:
     - name: Checkout code
       uses: actions/checkout@v2
+      with:
+        fetch-depth: 0
 
     - name: turn off swap
       run: sudo swapoff -a
diff --git a/.github/workflows/draft-release.yaml b/.github/workflows/draft-release.yaml
index 3a157e15e..4f4b7da45 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/draft-release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/draft-release.yaml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ jobs:
           go-version: 1.16
 
       - name: Build Release Artifacts
-        run: IMG="projects.registry.vmware.com/cluster_api_provider_bringyourownhost/cluster-api-byoh-controller:${{ github.ref_name }}" AGENT_BINARY_VERSION="${{ github.ref_name }}" make build-release-artifacts
+        run: IMG="projects.registry.vmware.com/cluster_api_provider_bringyourownhost/cluster-api-byoh-controller:${{ github.ref_name }}" make build-release-artifacts
 
       - name: Publish Release
         uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v1
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index ce4ab3b4b..f8b2b1f3c 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -33,9 +33,8 @@ GINKGO := $(TOOLS_BIN_DIR)/ginkgo
 
 BYOH_TEMPLATES := $(REPO_ROOT)/test/e2e/data/infrastructure-provider-byoh
 
-LDFLAGS=-w -s
+LDFLAGS := -w -s $(shell hack/version.sh)
 STATIC=-extldflags '-static'
-AGENT_BINARY_VERSION ?= dev
 
 # Get the currently used golang install path (in GOPATH/bin, unless GOBIN is set)
 ifeq (,$(shell go env GOBIN))
@@ -201,9 +200,7 @@ kustomize: ## Download kustomize locally if necessary.
 	$(call go-get-tool,$(KUSTOMIZE),sigs.k8s.io/kustomize/kustomize/v3@v3.9.1)
 
 host-agent-binaries: ## Builds the binaries for the host-agent
-	RELEASE_BINARY=./byoh-hostagent GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 GOLDFLAGS="$(LDFLAGS) $(STATIC) \
-	-X 'github.com/vmware-tanzu/cluster-api-provider-bringyourownhost/agent/version.Version=${AGENT_BINARY_VERSION}' \
-	-X 'github.com/vmware-tanzu/cluster-api-provider-bringyourownhost/agent/version.BuildDate=$(shell date -u +\"%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ\")'" \
+	RELEASE_BINARY=./byoh-hostagent GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 GOLDFLAGS="$(LDFLAGS) $(STATIC)" \
 	HOST_AGENT_DIR=./$(HOST_AGENT_DIR) $(MAKE) host-agent-binary
 
 host-agent-binary: $(RELEASE_DIR)
diff --git a/agent/host_agent_test.go b/agent/host_agent_test.go
index 797b7c993..01f9e2f10 100644
--- a/agent/host_agent_test.go
+++ b/agent/host_agent_test.go
@@ -337,29 +337,47 @@ var _ = Describe("Agent", func() {
 		BeforeEach(func() {
 			date, err := exec.Command("date").Output()
 			Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+
+			version.GitMajor = "1"
+			version.GitMinor = "2"
+			version.GitVersion = "v1.2.3"
+			version.GitCommit = "abc"
+			version.GitTreeState = "clean"
 			version.BuildDate = string(date)
-			version.Version = "v1.2.3"
-			ldflags := fmt.Sprintf("-X 'github.com/vmware-tanzu/cluster-api-provider-bringyourownhost/agent/version.Version=%s'"+
-				" -X 'github.com/vmware-tanzu/cluster-api-provider-bringyourownhost/agent/version.BuildDate=%s'", version.Version, version.BuildDate)
+
+			ldflags := fmt.Sprintf("-X 'github.com/vmware-tanzu/cluster-api-provider-bringyourownhost/agent/version.GitMajor=%s'"+
+				"-X 'github.com/vmware-tanzu/cluster-api-provider-bringyourownhost/agent/version.GitMinor=%s'"+
+				"-X 'github.com/vmware-tanzu/cluster-api-provider-bringyourownhost/agent/version.GitVersion=%s'"+
+				"-X 'github.com/vmware-tanzu/cluster-api-provider-bringyourownhost/agent/version.GitCommit=%s'"+
+				"-X 'github.com/vmware-tanzu/cluster-api-provider-bringyourownhost/agent/version.GitTreeState=%s'"+
+				"-X 'github.com/vmware-tanzu/cluster-api-provider-bringyourownhost/agent/version.BuildDate=%s'",
+				version.GitMajor, version.GitMinor, version.GitVersion, version.GitCommit, version.GitTreeState, version.BuildDate)
+
 			tmpHostAgentBinary, err = gexec.Build("github.com/vmware-tanzu/cluster-api-provider-bringyourownhost/agent", "-ldflags", ldflags)
 			Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
 		})
 
 		AfterEach(func() {
+			version.GitMajor = ""
+			version.GitMinor = ""
+			version.GitVersion = ""
+			version.GitCommit = ""
+			version.GitTreeState = ""
 			version.BuildDate = ""
-			version.Version = ""
 			tmpHostAgentBinary = ""
 		})
 
 		It("Shows the appropriate version of the agent", func() {
 			expectedStruct := version.Info{
-				Major:     "1",
-				Minor:     "2",
-				Patch:     "3",
-				BuildDate: version.BuildDate,
-				GoVersion: runtime.Version(),
-				Compiler:  runtime.Compiler,
-				Platform:  fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", runtime.GOOS, runtime.GOARCH),
+				Major:        "1",
+				Minor:        "2",
+				GitVersion:   "v1.2.3",
+				GitCommit:    "abc",
+				GitTreeState: "clean",
+				BuildDate:    version.BuildDate,
+				GoVersion:    runtime.Version(),
+				Compiler:     runtime.Compiler,
+				Platform:     fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", runtime.GOOS, runtime.GOARCH),
 			}
 			expected := fmt.Sprintf("byoh-hostagent version: %#v\n", expectedStruct)
 			out, err := exec.Command(tmpHostAgentBinary, "--version").Output()
@@ -369,6 +387,57 @@ var _ = Describe("Agent", func() {
 		})
 	})
 
+	Context("When --version flag is created using 'version.sh' script", func() {
+		var (
+			tmpHostAgentBinary string
+			gitMajor           string
+			gitMinor           string
+			gitVersion         string
+			err                error
+		)
+		BeforeEach(func() {
+			command := exec.Command("/bin/sh", "-c", "git describe --tags --abbrev=14 --match 'v[0-9]*' 2>/dev/null")
+			command.Stderr = os.Stderr
+			cmdOut, _ := command.Output()
+			gitVersion = strings.TrimSuffix(string(cmdOut), "\n")
+
+			gitVersion = strings.Split(gitVersion, "-")[0]
+			gitVars := strings.Split(gitVersion, ".")
+			if len(gitVars) > 1 {
+				gitMajor = gitVars[0][1:]
+				gitMinor = gitVars[1]
+			}
+
+			root, _ := exec.Command("/bin/sh", "-c", "git rev-parse --show-toplevel").Output()
+			cmd := exec.Command("/bin/sh", "-c", strings.TrimSuffix(string(root), "\n")+"/hack/version.sh")
+			ldflags, _ := cmd.Output()
+			tmpHostAgentBinary, err = gexec.Build("github.com/vmware-tanzu/cluster-api-provider-bringyourownhost/agent", "-ldflags", string(ldflags))
+			Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+		})
+
+		AfterEach(func() {
+			tmpHostAgentBinary = ""
+			gitMajor = ""
+			gitMinor = ""
+			gitVersion = ""
+		})
+
+		It("should match local generated git values", func() {
+			out, err := exec.Command(tmpHostAgentBinary, "--version").Output()
+			Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+
+			majorExpected := "Major:\"" + gitMajor + "\""
+			Expect(out).Should(ContainSubstring(majorExpected))
+
+			minorExpected := "Minor:\"" + gitMinor + "\""
+			Expect(out).Should(ContainSubstring(minorExpected))
+
+			gitVersionExpected := "GitVersion:\"" + gitVersion
+			Expect(out).Should(ContainSubstring(gitVersionExpected))
+
+		})
+	})
+
 	Context("When the host agent is executed with --skip-installation flag", func() {
 		var (
 			ns               *corev1.Namespace
diff --git a/agent/version/version.go b/agent/version/version.go
index 71612fd4f..2ca55163c 100644
--- a/agent/version/version.go
+++ b/agent/version/version.go
@@ -6,65 +6,41 @@ package version
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"runtime"
-	"strings"
 )
 
 var (
-	// Version is the version of the agent.
-	Version string
-	// BuildDate is the date the agent was built.
-	BuildDate string
-)
-
-const (
-	// Dev development version string
-	Dev          = "dev"
-	gitTagLength = 3
+	GitMajor     string // major version, always numeric
+	GitMinor     string // minor version, numeric possibly followed by "+"
+	GitVersion   string // semantic version, derived by build scripts
+	GitCommit    string // sha1 from git, output of $(git rev-parse HEAD)
+	GitTreeState string // state of git tree, either "clean" or "dirty"
+	BuildDate    string // build date in ISO8601 format, output of $(date -u +'%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ')
 )
 
 // Info exposes information about the version used for the current running code.
 type Info struct {
-	Major     string `json:"major,omitempty"`
-	Minor     string `json:"minor,omitempty"`
-	Patch     string `json:"patch,omitempty"`
-	BuildDate string `json:"BuildDate,omitempty"`
-	GoVersion string `json:"goVersion,omitempty"`
-	Platform  string `json:"platform,omitempty"`
-	Compiler  string `json:"compiler,omitempty"`
+	Major        string `json:"major,omitempty"`
+	Minor        string `json:"minor,omitempty"`
+	GitVersion   string `json:"gitVersion,omitempty"`
+	GitCommit    string `json:"gitCommit,omitempty"`
+	GitTreeState string `json:"gitTreeState,omitempty"`
+	BuildDate    string `json:"buildDate,omitempty"`
+	GoVersion    string `json:"goVersion,omitempty"`
+	Compiler     string `json:"compiler,omitempty"`
+	Platform     string `json:"platform,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // Get returns an Info object with all the information about the current running code.
 func Get() Info {
-	var major, minor, patch string
-	extractVersion(&major, &minor, &patch)
 	return Info{
-		Major:     major,
-		Minor:     minor,
-		Patch:     patch,
-		BuildDate: BuildDate,
-		GoVersion: runtime.Version(),
-		Compiler:  runtime.Compiler,
-		Platform:  fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", runtime.GOOS, runtime.GOARCH),
-	}
-}
-
-func extractVersion(major, minor, patch *string) {
-	if Version == Dev {
-		*major = Dev
-		return
+		Major:        GitMajor,
+		Minor:        GitMinor,
+		GitVersion:   GitVersion,
+		GitCommit:    GitCommit,
+		GitTreeState: GitTreeState,
+		BuildDate:    BuildDate,
+		GoVersion:    runtime.Version(),
+		Compiler:     runtime.Compiler,
+		Platform:     fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", runtime.GOOS, runtime.GOARCH),
 	}
-
-	version := strings.Split(Version, ".")
-	if len(version) != gitTagLength {
-		return
-	}
-
-	// The git tag is preceded by a 'v', eg. v1.2.3
-	if len(version[0]) != 2 || version[0][0:1] != "v" {
-		return
-	}
-
-	*major = version[0][1:2]
-	*minor = version[1]
-	*patch = version[2]
 }
diff --git a/agent/version/version_suite_test.go b/agent/version/version_suite_test.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 433012284..000000000
--- a/agent/version/version_suite_test.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2021 VMware, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
-// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
-
-package version_test
-
-import (
-	"testing"
-
-	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo"
-	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
-)
-
-func TestVersion(t *testing.T) {
-	RegisterFailHandler(Fail)
-	RunSpecs(t, "Version Suite")
-}
diff --git a/agent/version/version_test.go b/agent/version/version_test.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 7dcc3ff24..000000000
--- a/agent/version/version_test.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,130 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright 2021 VMware, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
-// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
-
-package version_test
-
-import (
-	"fmt"
-	"os/exec"
-	"runtime"
-
-	"github.com/vmware-tanzu/cluster-api-provider-bringyourownhost/agent/version"
-
-	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo"
-	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
-)
-
-var _ = Describe("Agent version", func() {
-
-	Context("When the version number and date are not set", func() {
-
-		It("Leaves the version and date fields empty in response", func() {
-			expected := version.Info{
-				Major:     "",
-				Minor:     "",
-				Patch:     "",
-				BuildDate: "",
-				GoVersion: runtime.Version(),
-				Compiler:  runtime.Compiler,
-				Platform:  fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", runtime.GOOS, runtime.GOARCH),
-			}
-			Expect(version.Get()).Should(Equal(expected))
-		})
-	})
-
-	Context("When only date is set", func() {
-		BeforeEach(func() {
-			date, err := exec.Command("date").Output()
-			Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
-			version.BuildDate = string(date)
-		})
-
-		AfterEach(func() {
-			version.BuildDate = ""
-		})
-
-		It("Leaves version field empty in response", func() {
-			expected := version.Info{
-				Major:     "",
-				Minor:     "",
-				Patch:     "",
-				BuildDate: version.BuildDate,
-				GoVersion: runtime.Version(),
-				Compiler:  runtime.Compiler,
-				Platform:  fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", runtime.GOOS, runtime.GOARCH),
-			}
-			Expect(version.Get()).Should(Equal(expected))
-		})
-	})
-
-	Context("When version is set", func() {
-		Context("When version is set to dev", func() {
-			BeforeEach(func() {
-				version.Version = version.Dev
-			})
-
-			AfterEach(func() {
-				version.Version = ""
-			})
-
-			It("Shows the version major to be dev", func() {
-				expected := version.Info{
-					Major:     version.Dev,
-					Minor:     "",
-					Patch:     "",
-					BuildDate: "",
-					GoVersion: runtime.Version(),
-					Compiler:  runtime.Compiler,
-					Platform:  fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", runtime.GOOS, runtime.GOARCH),
-				}
-				Expect(version.Get()).Should(Equal(expected))
-			})
-		})
-
-		Context("When version is set as git tag", func() {
-			BeforeEach(func() {
-				version.Version = "v1.2.3"
-			})
-
-			AfterEach(func() {
-				version.Version = ""
-			})
-
-			It("Shows the version according to the git tag passed", func() {
-				expected := version.Info{
-					Major:     "1",
-					Minor:     "2",
-					Patch:     "3",
-					BuildDate: "",
-					GoVersion: runtime.Version(),
-					Compiler:  runtime.Compiler,
-					Platform:  fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", runtime.GOOS, runtime.GOARCH),
-				}
-				Expect(version.Get()).Should(Equal(expected))
-			})
-		})
-
-		Context("When version is set as invalid git tag", func() {
-			BeforeEach(func() {
-				version.Version = "1.2.3"
-			})
-
-			AfterEach(func() {
-				version.Version = ""
-			})
-
-			It("Leaves the version fields empty", func() {
-				expected := version.Info{
-					Major:     "",
-					Minor:     "",
-					Patch:     "",
-					BuildDate: "",
-					GoVersion: runtime.Version(),
-					Compiler:  runtime.Compiler,
-					Platform:  fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s", runtime.GOOS, runtime.GOARCH),
-				}
-				Expect(version.Get()).Should(Equal(expected))
-			})
-		})
-	})
-})
diff --git a/hack/version.sh b/hack/version.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..67d1c1b52
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hack/version.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -o errexit
+set -o nounset
+set -o pipefail
+
+version::get_version_vars() {
+    # shellcheck disable=SC1083
+    GIT_COMMIT="$(git rev-parse HEAD^{commit})"
+
+    if git_status=$(git status --porcelain 2>/dev/null) && [[ -z ${git_status} ]]; then
+        GIT_TREE_STATE="clean"
+    else
+        GIT_TREE_STATE="dirty"
+    fi
+
+    # stolen from sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/hack/version.sh
+    # Use git describe to find the version based on annotated tags.
+    # TODO: is '--tags' flag required?
+    if [[ -n ${GIT_VERSION-} ]] || GIT_VERSION=$(git describe --tags --abbrev=14 --match "v[0-9]*" 2>/dev/null); then
+        # This translates the "git describe" to an actual semver.org
+        # compatible semantic version that looks something like this:
+        #   v1.1.0-alpha.0.6+84c76d1142ea4d
+        #
+        # TODO: We continue calling this "git version" because so many
+        # downstream consumers are expecting it there.
+        # shellcheck disable=SC2001
+        DASHES_IN_VERSION=$(echo "${GIT_VERSION}" | sed "s/[^-]//g")
+        if [[ "${DASHES_IN_VERSION}" == "---" ]] ; then
+            # We have distance to subversion (v1.1.0-subversion-1-gCommitHash)
+            # shellcheck disable=SC2001
+            GIT_VERSION=$(echo "${GIT_VERSION}" | sed "s/-\([0-9]\{1,\}\)-g\([0-9a-f]\{14\}\)$/.\1\-\2/")
+        elif [[ "${DASHES_IN_VERSION}" == "--" ]] ; then
+            # We have distance to base tag (v1.1.0-1-gCommitHash)
+            # shellcheck disable=SC2001
+            GIT_VERSION=$(echo "${GIT_VERSION}" | sed "s/-g\([0-9a-f]\{14\}\)$/-\1/")
+        fi
+        if [[ "${GIT_TREE_STATE}" == "dirty" ]]; then
+            # git describe --dirty only considers changes to existing files, but
+            # that is problematic since new untracked .go files affect the build,
+            # so use our idea of "dirty" from git status instead.
+            GIT_VERSION+="-dirty"
+        fi
+
+
+        # Try to match the "git describe" output to a regex to try to extract
+        # the "major" and "minor" versions and whether this is the exact tagged
+        # version or whether the tree is between two tagged versions.
+        if [[ "${GIT_VERSION}" =~ ^v([0-9]+)\.([0-9]+)(\.[0-9]+)?([-].*)?([+].*)?$ ]]; then
+            GIT_MAJOR=${BASH_REMATCH[1]}
+            GIT_MINOR=${BASH_REMATCH[2]}
+        fi
+
+        # If GIT_VERSION is not a valid Semantic Version, then refuse to build.
+        if ! [[ "${GIT_VERSION}" =~ ^v([0-9]+)\.([0-9]+)(\.[0-9]+)?(-[0-9A-Za-z.-]+)?(\+[0-9A-Za-z.-]+)?$ ]]; then
+            echo "GIT_VERSION should be a valid Semantic Version. Current value: ${GIT_VERSION}"
+            echo "Please see more details here: https://semver.org"
+            exit 1
+        fi
+    fi
+
+    GIT_RELEASE_TAG=$(git describe --abbrev=0 --tags)
+}
+
+# stolen from sigs.k8s.io/cluster-api/hack/version.sh and modified
+# Prints the value that needs to be passed to the -ldflags parameter of go build
+version::ldflags() {
+    version::get_version_vars
+
+    local -a ldflags
+    function add_ldflag() {
+        local key=${1}
+        local val=${2}
+        ldflags+=(
+            "-X 'github.com/vmware-tanzu/cluster-api-provider-bringyourownhost/agent/version.${key}=${val}'"
+        )
+    }
+
+    add_ldflag "GitMajor" "${GIT_MAJOR}"
+    add_ldflag "GitMinor" "${GIT_MINOR}"
+    add_ldflag "GitVersion" "${GIT_VERSION}"
+    add_ldflag "GitCommit" "${GIT_COMMIT}"
+    add_ldflag "GitTreeState" "${GIT_TREE_STATE}"
+    add_ldflag "BuildDate" "$(date ${SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH:+"--date=@${SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH}"} -u +'%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ')"
+
+    # The -ldflags parameter takes a single string, so join the output.
+    echo "${ldflags[*]-}"
+}
+
+version::ldflags
\ No newline at end of file