diff --git a/util/getversion.sh b/util/getversion.sh
index abf99eb186..bb1b7c5574 100755
--- a/util/getversion.sh
+++ b/util/getversion.sh
@@ -6,35 +6,67 @@
 #
 # Generate version information for the EC binary
 
-if ghash=`git rev-parse --short --verify HEAD 2>/dev/null`; then
-	if gdesc=`git describe --dirty --match='v*' 2>/dev/null`; then
-		IFS="-" fields=($gdesc)
-		tag="${fields[0]}"
-		IFS="." vernum=($tag)
-		numcommits=$((${vernum[2]}+${fields[1]:-0}))
-		ver_major="${vernum[0]}"
-		ver_branch="${vernum[1]}"
-	else
-		numcommits=`git rev-list HEAD | wc -l`
-		ver_major="v0"
-		ver_branch="0"
-	fi
-	# avoid putting the -dirty attribute if only the timestamp
-	# changed
-	git status > /dev/null 2>&1
+# Use this symbol as a separator to be able to reliably concatenate strings of
+# text.
+dc=$'\001'
 
-	dirty=`sh -c "[ '$(git diff-index --name-only HEAD)' ] && echo '-dirty'"`
-	vbase="${ver_major}.${ver_branch}.${numcommits}-${ghash}${dirty}"
-else
-	# Fall back to the VCSID provided by the packaging system if available.
-	if ghash=${VCSID##*-}; then
-		vbase="1.1.9999-${ghash:0:7}"
-	else
-		# then ultimately fails to "no_version"
-		vbase="no_version"
-	fi
-fi
+# This function examines the state of the current directory and attempts to
+# extract its version information: the latest tag, if any, how many patches
+# are there since the latest tag, the top sha1, and if there are local
+# modifications.
+#
+# Local modifications are reported by concatenating the revision string and
+# the string '-dirty' using the $dc symbol as the separator.
+#
+# If there is no tags defined in this git repository, the base version is
+# considered to be 0.0.
+#
+# If current directory is not a git depository, this function prints out
+# "no_version"
 
+get_tree_version() {
+  local ghash
+  local numcommits
+  local tag
+  local vbase
+  local ver_branch
+  local ver_major
+
+  if ghash=`git rev-parse --short --verify HEAD 2>/dev/null`; then
+    if gdesc=`git describe --dirty --match='v*' 2>/dev/null`; then
+      IFS="-" fields=($gdesc)
+      tag="${fields[0]}"
+      IFS="." vernum=($tag)
+      numcommits=$((${vernum[2]}+${fields[1]:-0}))
+      ver_major="${vernum[0]}"
+      ver_branch="${vernum[1]}"
+    else
+      numcommits=`git rev-list HEAD | wc -l`
+      ver_major="v0"
+      ver_branch="0"
+    fi
+    # avoid putting the -dirty attribute if only the timestamp
+    # changed
+    git status > /dev/null 2>&1
+
+    dirty=`sh -c "[ '$(git diff-index --name-only HEAD)' ] && echo '-dirty'"`
+    vbase="${ver_major}.${ver_branch}.${numcommits}-${ghash}${dirty}"
+  else
+    # Fall back to the VCSID provided by the packaging system if available.
+    if ghash=${VCSID##*-}; then
+      vbase="1.1.9999-${ghash:0:7}"
+    else
+      # then ultimately fails to "no_version"
+      vbase="no_version"
+    fi
+  fi
+  echo "${vbase}${dc}${dirty}"
+}
+
+IFS="${dc}"
+values=( $(get_tree_version) )
+vbase="${values[0]}"   # Retrieved version information.
+dirty="${values[1]}"   # Non-zero, if the repository is 'dirty'
 ver="${BOARD}_${vbase}"
 
 echo "/* This file is generated by util/getversion.sh */"