diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 590024c..cf697a6 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -48,3 +48,4 @@ doc/*.htoc
 doc/*.tex
 test/press*
 test/*.png
+release.h
diff --git a/src/conf.c b/src/conf.c
index 9ee6522..c7067a9 100644
--- a/src/conf.c
+++ b/src/conf.c
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ zlog_conf_t *zlog_conf_new(const char *confpath)
 {
 	int nwrite = 0;
 	int has_conf_file = 0;
-	zlog_conf_t *a_conf;
+	zlog_conf_t *a_conf = NULL;
 
 	a_conf = calloc(1, sizeof(zlog_conf_t));
 	if (!a_conf) {
diff --git a/src/makefile b/src/makefile
index 1f9d36d..353e7bd 100644
--- a/src/makefile
+++ b/src/makefile
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ OBJ=    \
   mdc.o    \
   record.o    \
   record_table.o    \
-  release.o    \
   rotater.o    \
   rule.o    \
   spec.o    \
@@ -89,7 +88,6 @@ record.o: record.c zc_defs.h zc_profile.h zc_arraylist.h zc_hashtable.h \
  zc_xplatform.h zc_util.h record.h
 record_table.o: record_table.c zc_defs.h zc_profile.h zc_arraylist.h \
  zc_hashtable.h zc_xplatform.h zc_util.h record_table.h record.h
-release.o: release.c release.h
 rotater.o: rotater.c zc_defs.h zc_profile.h zc_arraylist.h zc_hashtable.h \
  zc_xplatform.h zc_util.h rotater.h
 rule.o: rule.c fmacros.h rule.h zc_defs.h zc_profile.h zc_arraylist.h \
diff --git a/src/mk_release.sh b/src/mk_release.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 54080d4..0000000
--- a/src/mk_release.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-GIT_SHA1=`(git show-ref --head --hash=8 2> /dev/null || echo 00000000) | head -n1`
-GIT_DIRTY=`git diff 2> /dev/null | wc -l`
-test -f release.h || touch release.h
-(cat release.h | grep SHA1 | grep $GIT_SHA1) && \
-(cat release.h | grep DIRTY | grep $GIT_DIRTY) && exit 0 # Already uptodate
-echo "#define ZLOG_GIT_SHA1 \"$GIT_SHA1\"" > release.h
-echo "#define ZLOG_GIT_DIRTY \"$GIT_DIRTY\"" >> release.h
-touch release.c # Force recompile of release.c
diff --git a/src/release.c b/src/release.c
deleted file mode 100644
index 1f0c55a..0000000
--- a/src/release.c
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
-/* Every time the zlog Git SHA1 or Dirty status changes only this file
- * small file is recompiled, as we access this information in all the other
- * files using this functions. */
-
-#include "release.h"
-
-char *zlog_git_sha1 = ZLOG_GIT_SHA1;
-char *zlog_git_dirty = ZLOG_GIT_DIRTY;
diff --git a/src/release.h b/src/release.h
deleted file mode 100644
index 83f08cb..0000000
--- a/src/release.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-#define ZLOG_GIT_SHA1 "b8d15750"
-#define ZLOG_GIT_DIRTY "0"
diff --git a/src/version.h b/src/version.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..04e8681
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/version.h
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+#define ZLOG_VERSION "1.2.7"
diff --git a/src/zlog-chk-conf.c b/src/zlog-chk-conf.c
index 7fcd083..a582496 100644
--- a/src/zlog-chk-conf.c
+++ b/src/zlog-chk-conf.c
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 #include <unistd.h>
 
 #include "zlog.h"
+#include "version.h"
 
 
 int main(int argc, char *argv[])
@@ -35,17 +36,14 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	int op;
 	int quiet = 0;
 	static const char *help = 
-		"Useage: zlog-chk-conf [conf files]...\n"
+		"useage: zlog-chk-conf [conf files]...\n"
 		"\t-q,\tsuppress non-error message\n"
 		"\t-h,\tshow help message\n"
-		"\t-v,\tshow zlog library's git version\n";
+		"zlog version: " ZLOG_VERSION "\n";
 
 	while((op = getopt(argc, argv, "qhv")) > 0) {
 		if (op == 'h') {
-			puts(help);
-			return 0;
-		} else if (op == 'v') {
-			printf("zlog git version[%s]\n", zlog_git_sha1);
+			fputs(help, stdout);
 			return 0;
 		} else if (op == 'q') {
 			quiet = 1;
@@ -56,7 +54,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	argv += optind;
 
 	if (argc == 0) {
-		puts(help);
+		fputs(help, stdout);
 		return -1;
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/zlog.c b/src/zlog.c
index b036870..d91eb2d 100644
--- a/src/zlog.c
+++ b/src/zlog.c
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 #include "mdc.h"
 #include "zc_defs.h"
 #include "rule.h"
+#include "version.h"
 
 /*******************************************************************************/
 extern char *zlog_git_sha1;
@@ -123,8 +124,8 @@ int zlog_init(const char *confpath)
 {
 	int rc;
 	zc_debug("------zlog_init start------");
-	zc_debug("------compile time[%s %s], git version[%s]------",
-			__DATE__, __TIME__, zlog_git_sha1);
+	zc_debug("------compile time[%s %s], version[%s]------",
+			__DATE__, __TIME__, ZLOG_VERSION);
 
 	rc = pthread_rwlock_wrlock(&zlog_env_lock);
 	if (rc) {
@@ -164,8 +165,9 @@ err:
 int dzlog_init(const char *confpath, const char *cname)
 {
 	int rc = 0;
-	zc_debug("------zlog_init start, compile time[%s %s], git version[%s]------",
-			__DATE__, __TIME__, zlog_git_sha1);
+	zc_debug("------dzlog_init start------");
+	zc_debug("------compile time[%s %s], version[%s]------",
+			__DATE__, __TIME__, ZLOG_VERSION);
 
 	rc = pthread_rwlock_wrlock(&zlog_env_lock);
 	if (rc) {
diff --git a/src/zlog.h b/src/zlog.h
index ddb400f..903a556 100644
--- a/src/zlog.h
+++ b/src/zlog.h
@@ -24,8 +24,6 @@
 extern "C" {
 #endif
 
-extern char *zlog_git_sha1;
-
 #include <stdarg.h> /* for va_list */
 #include <stdio.h> /* for size_t */
 
diff --git a/tools/mk_targz.sh b/tools/mk_targz.sh
index 41afeac..2347652 100755
--- a/tools/mk_targz.sh
+++ b/tools/mk_targz.sh
@@ -3,14 +3,19 @@
 if [ "$1" = "" ]
 then
     echo "Usage: mk_targz.sh <git tag only>"
-    echo "Example: mktarball.sh 2.2-rc4"
+    echo "Example: mk_targz.sh 1.2.7"
     exit 1
 fi
 
+if [ ! -d .git ]
+then
+    echo "Must run at git home directory"
+    exit 2
+fi
+
 HASH=`git show-ref --hash=8 refs/tags/${1}`
 PREFIX="zlog-${1}-${HASH}/"
 TARBALL="/tmp/zlog-${1}-${HASH}.tar.gz"
 git archive --format=tar -v --prefix=$PREFIX $1 | gzip -c > $TARBALL
 cp ${TARBALL} /tmp/zlog-latest-stable.tar.gz
-#git archive --format=tar -v --prefix=$PREFIX $1 -o $TARBALL
 echo "File created: $TARBALL"