diff --git a/buffalo/cmd/build/templates/main.go.tmpl b/buffalo/cmd/build/templates/main.go.tmpl
index 8964d1f0f..24e6e3555 100644
--- a/buffalo/cmd/build/templates/main.go.tmpl
+++ b/buffalo/cmd/build/templates/main.go.tmpl
@@ -4,9 +4,12 @@ import (
   "fmt"
   "log"
   "os"
+  "time"
+  "strings"
 
   "github.com/markbates/grift/grift"
   "github.com/gobuffalo/buffalo/buffalo/cmd"
+  "github.com/gobuffalo/buffalo/runtime"
   _ "<%= opts.PackagePkg %>/a"
   _ "<%= opts.ActionsPkg %>"
   <%= if (opts.WithPop) { %>
@@ -19,13 +22,26 @@ import (
   <% } %>
 )
 
-var BuildVersion = "unknown"
-var BuildTime = "unknown"
+var BuildVersion = ""
+var BuildTime = ""
+
+func init() {
+  BuildTime = strings.Trim(BuildTime, "\"")
+  t, err := time.Parse("2006-01-02T15:04:05-07:00", BuildTime)
+  if err != nil {
+    fmt.Println(err)
+  }
+  runtime.SetBuild(runtime.BuildInfo{
+    Version: BuildVersion,
+    Time: t,
+  })
+}
 
 func main() {
   args := os.Args
   if len(args) == 1 {
     originalMain()
+    return
   }
   c := args[1]
   switch c {
@@ -53,7 +69,7 @@ func main() {
 }
 
 func printVersion() {
-  fmt.Printf("<%= opts.Name.Title() %> version %s (%s)\n", BuildVersion, BuildTime)
+  fmt.Printf("<%= opts.Name.Title() %> version %s\n", runtime.Build())
 }
 
 <%= if (opts.WithPop) { %>
diff --git a/buffalo/cmd/generate.go b/buffalo/cmd/generate.go
index b676aa572..ad4cde56a 100644
--- a/buffalo/cmd/generate.go
+++ b/buffalo/cmd/generate.go
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ var generateCmd = &cobra.Command{
 }
 
 func init() {
-	generate.Version = Version
 	generateCmd.AddCommand(generate.ResourceCmd)
 	generateCmd.AddCommand(generate.ActionCmd)
 	generateCmd.AddCommand(generate.DockerCmd)
diff --git a/buffalo/cmd/generate/docker.go b/buffalo/cmd/generate/docker.go
index 7bae45489..f069b169c 100644
--- a/buffalo/cmd/generate/docker.go
+++ b/buffalo/cmd/generate/docker.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package generate
 
 import (
 	"github.com/gobuffalo/buffalo/generators/docker"
+	"github.com/gobuffalo/buffalo/runtime"
 	"github.com/gobuffalo/makr"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
@@ -13,7 +14,7 @@ var DockerCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Use:   "docker",
 	Short: "Generates a Dockerfile",
 	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-		dockerOptions.Version = Version
+		dockerOptions.Version = runtime.Version
 		return dockerOptions.Run(".", makr.Data{})
 	},
 }
diff --git a/buffalo/cmd/generate/generate.go b/buffalo/cmd/generate/generate.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 3772bb004..000000000
--- a/buffalo/cmd/generate/generate.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,4 +0,0 @@
-package generate
-
-// Version is set by the cmd package, to all the generate package to have this information withouth cyclical deps
-var Version string
diff --git a/buffalo/cmd/info.go b/buffalo/cmd/info.go
index 27d06fbc5..37ce7656b 100644
--- a/buffalo/cmd/info.go
+++ b/buffalo/cmd/info.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"reflect"
 
 	"github.com/gobuffalo/buffalo/meta"
+	"github.com/gobuffalo/buffalo/runtime"
 	"github.com/gobuffalo/envy"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
@@ -19,7 +20,7 @@ var infoCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		bb := os.Stdout
 
-		bb.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("### Buffalo Version\n%s\n", Version))
+		bb.WriteString(fmt.Sprintf("### Buffalo Version\n%s\n", runtime.Version))
 
 		bb.WriteString("\n### App Information\n")
 		app := meta.New(".")
diff --git a/buffalo/cmd/new.go b/buffalo/cmd/new.go
index b1b1c0fb3..7af558780 100644
--- a/buffalo/cmd/new.go
+++ b/buffalo/cmd/new.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"os/exec"
 	"os/user"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"runtime"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/markbates/inflect"
@@ -40,7 +41,6 @@ var newCmd = &cobra.Command{
 		}
 
 		app.Name = inflect.Name(args[0])
-		app.Version = Version
 
 		if app.Name == "." {
 			app.Name = inflect.Name(filepath.Base(app.Root))
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ var newCmd = &cobra.Command{
 		}
 
 		data := makr.Data{
-			"version": Version,
+			"version": runtime.Version,
 		}
 		if err := app.Run(app.Root, data); err != nil {
 			return errors.WithStack(err)
diff --git a/buffalo/cmd/update.go b/buffalo/cmd/update.go
index 09f43ca1d..ce0f8f5d3 100644
--- a/buffalo/cmd/update.go
+++ b/buffalo/cmd/update.go
@@ -4,15 +4,15 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 
 	"github.com/gobuffalo/buffalo/buffalo/cmd/updater"
+	"github.com/gobuffalo/buffalo/runtime"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
 // updateCmd represents the info command
 var updateCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Use:   "update",
-	Short: fmt.Sprintf("will attempt to upgrade a Buffalo application to version %s", Version),
+	Short: fmt.Sprintf("will attempt to upgrade a Buffalo application to version %s", runtime.Version),
 	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-		updater.Version = Version
 		return updater.Run()
 	},
 }
diff --git a/buffalo/cmd/updater/runner.go b/buffalo/cmd/updater/runner.go
index b80edcaa2..2ba3fb673 100644
--- a/buffalo/cmd/updater/runner.go
+++ b/buffalo/cmd/updater/runner.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 
 	"github.com/gobuffalo/buffalo/meta"
+	"github.com/gobuffalo/buffalo/runtime"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 )
 
@@ -18,7 +19,7 @@ type Runner struct {
 
 // Run all compatible checks
 func Run() error {
-	fmt.Printf("! This updater will attempt to update your application to Buffalo version: %s\n", Version)
+	fmt.Printf("! This updater will attempt to update your application to Buffalo version: %s\n", runtime.Version)
 	if !ask("Do you wish to continue?") {
 		fmt.Println("~~~ cancelling update ~~~")
 		return nil
diff --git a/buffalo/cmd/updater/updater.go b/buffalo/cmd/updater/updater.go
index 2d8b62b87..2a868447f 100644
--- a/buffalo/cmd/updater/updater.go
+++ b/buffalo/cmd/updater/updater.go
@@ -7,10 +7,6 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 )
 
-// Version is the current Buffalo version. It is set here by the cmd package.
-// This is due to circular dependencies
-var Version string
-
 var replace = map[string]string{
 	"github.com/markbates/pop":      "github.com/gobuffalo/pop",
 	"github.com/markbates/validate": "github.com/gobuffalo/validate",
diff --git a/buffalo/cmd/version.go b/buffalo/cmd/version.go
index 49d4b2165..54146c9e5 100644
--- a/buffalo/cmd/version.go
+++ b/buffalo/cmd/version.go
@@ -1,14 +1,11 @@
 package cmd
 
 import (
+	"github.com/gobuffalo/buffalo/runtime"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
-// Version is the current version of the buffalo binary
-// const Version = "v0.11.0"
-const Version = "development"
-
 func init() {
 	decorate("version", versionCmd)
 	RootCmd.AddCommand(versionCmd)
@@ -19,7 +16,7 @@ var versionCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Short: "Print the version number of buffalo",
 	Long:  `All software has versions.  This is buffalo's.`,
 	Run: func(c *cobra.Command, args []string) {
-		logrus.Infof("Buffalo version is: %s\n", Version)
+		logrus.Infof("Buffalo version is: %s\n", runtime.Version)
 	},
 	// needed to override the root level pre-run func
 	PersistentPreRunE: func(c *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
diff --git a/generators/docker/generator.go b/generators/docker/generator.go
index 631d14342..63b2fff90 100644
--- a/generators/docker/generator.go
+++ b/generators/docker/generator.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package docker
 
 import (
 	"github.com/gobuffalo/buffalo/meta"
+	"github.com/gobuffalo/buffalo/runtime"
 )
 
 // Generator for generating a new docker file
@@ -16,7 +17,7 @@ type Generator struct {
 func New() Generator {
 	o := Generator{
 		App:     meta.New("."),
-		Version: "latest",
+		Version: runtime.Version,
 		Style:   "multi",
 	}
 	o.AsWeb = o.App.WithWebpack
diff --git a/generators/newapp/generator.go b/generators/newapp/generator.go
index 5271611f0..64f43d72d 100644
--- a/generators/newapp/generator.go
+++ b/generators/newapp/generator.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/gobuffalo/buffalo/meta"
+	"github.com/gobuffalo/buffalo/runtime"
 	"github.com/gobuffalo/envy"
 	"github.com/gobuffalo/pop"
 	"github.com/markbates/inflect"
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@ func New(name string) (Generator, error) {
 		CIProvider: "none",
 		AsWeb:      true,
 		Docker:     "multi",
+		Version:    runtime.Version,
 	}
 	g.Name = inflect.Name(name)
 
diff --git a/generators/newapp/new.go b/generators/newapp/new.go
index 0bf2a665e..f7c899dd0 100644
--- a/generators/newapp/new.go
+++ b/generators/newapp/new.go
@@ -124,7 +124,6 @@ func (a Generator) setupDocker(root string, data makr.Data) error {
 
 	o := docker.New()
 	o.App = a.App
-	o.Version = a.Version
 	if err := o.Run(root, data); err != nil {
 		return errors.WithStack(err)
 	}
diff --git a/grifts/release.go b/grifts/release.go
index c64af29d3..dfde92660 100644
--- a/grifts/release.go
+++ b/grifts/release.go
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ func findVersion() (string, error) {
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
-	vfile, err := ioutil.ReadFile(filepath.Join(pwd, "buffalo/cmd/version.go"))
+	vfile, err := ioutil.ReadFile(filepath.Join(pwd, "runtime/version.go"))
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
 	}
diff --git a/internal/vbuffalo/build.go b/internal/vbuffalo/build.go
index e479e45cd..8ec6b2a48 100644
--- a/internal/vbuffalo/build.go
+++ b/internal/vbuffalo/build.go
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ package vbuffalo
 import (
 	"os"
 
-	"github.com/gobuffalo/buffalo/buffalo/cmd"
+	"github.com/gobuffalo/buffalo/runtime"
 	"github.com/gobuffalo/plush"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 )
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ func writeMain() error {
 	s, err := plush.Render(mainTemplate, plush.NewContextWith(map[string]interface{}{
 		"app":     app,
 		"cmdPkg":  cmdPkg,
-		"version": cmd.Version,
+		"version": runtime.Version,
 	}))
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.WithStack(err)
diff --git a/runtime/build.go b/runtime/build.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..546c8a1d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/runtime/build.go
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+package runtime
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"sync"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// BuildInfo holds information about the build
+type BuildInfo struct {
+	Version string
+	Time    time.Time
+}
+
+// String implements fmt.String
+func (b BuildInfo) String() string {
+	return fmt.Sprintf("%s (%s)", b.Version, b.Time)
+}
+
+var build = BuildInfo{
+	Version: "",
+	Time:    time.Time{},
+}
+
+// Build returns the information about the current build
+// of the application. In development mode this will almost
+// always run zero values for BuildInfo.
+func Build() BuildInfo {
+	return build
+}
+
+var so sync.Once
+
+// SetBuild allows the setting of build information only once.
+// This is typically managed by the binary built by `buffalo build`.
+func SetBuild(b BuildInfo) {
+	so.Do(func() {
+		build = b
+	})
+}
diff --git a/runtime/runtime.go b/runtime/runtime.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7ccdf5f69
--- /dev/null
+++ b/runtime/runtime.go
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+package runtime
diff --git a/runtime/version.go b/runtime/version.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c99fa786c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/runtime/version.go
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+package runtime
+
+// Version is the current version of the buffalo binary
+// const Version = "v0.11.0"
+const Version = "development"