diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..14244bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+/kubectl-persistent-logger
diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..24dbbfd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+
+set -euo pipefail
+IFS=$'\n\t'
+
+gitchanges="false"
+if [[ `git status --porcelain` ]]; then
+  gitchanges="true"
+fi
+gitsha1=$(git rev-parse HEAD | head -c 9)
+buildtime=$(date --iso-8601=seconds)
+
+go build -ldflags "-X main.gitchanges=$gitchanges -X main.gitSHA1=$gitsha1 -X main.buildTime=$buildtime"
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index a0017e3..7ee2b22 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package main
 import (
 	"context"
 	"flag"
+	"fmt"
 	"log"
 	"os"
 
@@ -12,16 +13,29 @@ import (
 	clientconfig "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client/config"
 )
 
+var (
+	gitChanges = "unknown"
+	gitSHA1    = "unknown"
+	buildTime  = "unknown"
+)
+
 func main() {
 	var (
 		container   string
 		strictExist bool
+		version     bool
 	)
 
 	flag.StringVar(&container, "container", "", "name of a specific container")
 	flag.BoolVar(&strictExist, "strict", false, "require deployment to exist on launch")
+	flag.BoolVar(&version, "version", false, "print version and exit")
 	flag.Parse()
 
+	if version {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "kubectl-persistent-logger, gitSHA1 = %s, gitChanges = %s, buildTime = %v\n", gitSHA1, gitChanges, buildTime)
+		os.Exit(0)
+	}
+
 	var params logs.WatcherParams
 
 	switch len(flag.Args()) {