diff --git a/tpl/Makefile.unified b/tpl/Makefile.unified
index edb6384..032d08b 100644
--- a/tpl/Makefile.unified
+++ b/tpl/Makefile.unified
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ include premake.make
 
 # git commit hash and version for this build
 COMMIT-HASH != git log 2>/dev/null | sed -e '1s/^commit //;q'
-COMMIT := "const char* commit = \"$(COMMIT-HASH)\";"
-VERSION := "const char* version = \"$(MAJOR).$(MINOR).$(PATCH)\";"
+COMMIT := "static const char* commit = \"$(COMMIT-HASH)\";"
+VERSION := "static const char* version = \"$(MAJOR).$(MINOR).$(PATCH)\";"
 
 # some important install locations
 PREFIX ?= /usr/local
diff --git a/tpl/version.cpp b/tpl/version.cpp
index 0df3638..e95f8bc 100644
--- a/tpl/version.cpp
+++ b/tpl/version.cpp
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 #include "version.hpp"
-#include "version.inc"
-#include "commit.inc"
 #include <sstream>
 
 std::string {PROJECT}_version() {
+#include "version.inc"
+#include "commit.inc"
     std::ostringstream oss;
     oss << "{PROJECT} version " << version;
 #ifdef DEBUG