diff --git a/compiler/src/build.d b/compiler/src/build.d
index a611d00260..e0169d6ea4 100755
--- a/compiler/src/build.d
+++ b/compiler/src/build.d
@@ -411,7 +411,7 @@ alias versionFile = makeRule!((builder, rule) {
                 return gitResult.output.strip;
         }
         // version fallback
-        return dmdRepo.buildPath("VERSION").readText;
+        return dmdRepo.buildPath("VERSION").readText.strip;
     });
     builder
     .target(env["G"].buildPath("VERSION"))
diff --git a/config.d b/config.d
index cf1bd129c8..80596824a6 100755
--- a/config.d
+++ b/config.d
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ string generateVersion(const string versionFile)
     enum workDir = __FILE_FULL_PATH__.dirName;
     const result = execute(["git", "-C", workDir, "describe", "--dirty"]);
 
-    return result.status == 0 ? result.output.strip : versionFile.readText;
+    return result.status == 0 ? result.output.strip : versionFile.readText.strip;
 }
 
 /**