diff --git a/freemarker-core/src/main/java/freemarker/template/Configuration.java b/freemarker-core/src/main/java/freemarker/template/Configuration.java
index 8f2af85..9211cfa 100644
--- a/freemarker-core/src/main/java/freemarker/template/Configuration.java
+++ b/freemarker-core/src/main/java/freemarker/template/Configuration.java
@@ -512,22 +512,9 @@
             
             String versionString  = getRequiredVersionProperty(props, "version");
             
-            Date buildDate;
-            {
-                String buildDateStr = getRequiredVersionProperty(props, "buildTimestamp");
-                if (buildDateStr.endsWith("Z")) {
-                    buildDateStr = buildDateStr.substring(0, buildDateStr.length() - 1) + "+0000";
-                }
-                try {
-                    buildDate = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ssZ", Locale.US).parse(buildDateStr);
-                } catch (java.text.ParseException e) {
-                    buildDate = null;
-                }
-            }
-            
             final Boolean gaeCompliant = Boolean.valueOf(getRequiredVersionProperty(props, "isGAECompliant"));
             
-            VERSION = new Version(versionString, gaeCompliant, buildDate);
+            VERSION = new Version(versionString, gaeCompliant, null);
         } catch (IOException e) {
             throw new RuntimeException("Failed to load and parse " + VERSION_PROPERTIES_PATH, e);
         }
diff --git a/freemarker-core/src/main/java/freemarker/template/Version.java b/freemarker-core/src/main/java/freemarker/template/Version.java
index dc08926..d66c969 100644
--- a/freemarker-core/src/main/java/freemarker/template/Version.java
+++ b/freemarker-core/src/main/java/freemarker/template/Version.java
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@
     private final String originalStringValue;
     
     private final Boolean gaeCompliant;
-    private final Date buildDate;
     
     private final int intValue;
     private volatile String calculatedStringValue;  // not final because it's calculated on demand
@@ -116,7 +115,6 @@
         intValue = calculateIntValue();
         
         this.gaeCompliant = gaeCompliant;
-        this.buildDate = buildDate;
         
     }
 
@@ -142,7 +140,6 @@
         
         this.extraInfo = null;
         this.gaeCompliant = null;
-        this.buildDate = null;
         originalStringValue = null;
     }
     
@@ -152,7 +149,6 @@
         this.micro = micro;
         this.extraInfo = extraInfo;
         this.gaeCompliant = gaeCompatible;
-        this.buildDate = buildDate;
         intValue = calculateIntValue();
         originalStringValue = null;
     }
@@ -229,10 +225,11 @@
     }
 
     /**
+     * @deprecated will be removed. Always returns <code>null</code>. 
      * @return The build date if known, or {@code null}.
      */
     public Date getBuildDate() {
-        return buildDate;
+        return null;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -250,7 +247,6 @@
             if (hashCode == 0) {
                 final int prime = 31;
                 int result = 1;
-                result = prime * result + (buildDate == null ? 0 : buildDate.hashCode());
                 result = prime * result + (extraInfo == null ? 0 : extraInfo.hashCode());
                 result = prime * result + (gaeCompliant == null ? 0 : gaeCompliant.hashCode());
                 result = prime * result + intValue;
@@ -273,12 +269,6 @@
         
         if (other.hashCode() != hashCode()) return false;
         
-        if (buildDate == null) {
-            if (other.buildDate != null) return false;
-        } else if (!buildDate.equals(other.buildDate)) {
-            return false;
-        }
-        
         if (extraInfo == null) {
             if (other.extraInfo != null) return false;
         } else if (!extraInfo.equals(other.extraInfo)) {
diff --git a/freemarker-core/src/test/java/freemarker/template/VersionTest.java b/freemarker-core/src/test/java/freemarker/template/VersionTest.java
index 917b96e..55b965a 100644
--- a/freemarker-core/src/test/java/freemarker/template/VersionTest.java
+++ b/freemarker-core/src/test/java/freemarker/template/VersionTest.java
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@
         assertEquals("1.2.3-beta8", v.toString());
         assertEquals("beta8", v.getExtraInfo());
         assertTrue(v.isGAECompliant().booleanValue());
-        assertEquals(new Date(5000), v.getBuildDate());
+        assertNull(v.getBuildDate());
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@
         assertEquals("2.3.24-rc01-incubating", v.toString());
         assertEquals("rc01-incubating", v.getExtraInfo());
         assertFalse(v.isGAECompliant().booleanValue());
-        assertEquals(new Date(5000), v.getBuildDate());
+        assertNull(v.getBuildDate());
     }
     
     @Test
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@
         assertEquals(30, v.getMicro());
         assertNull(v.getExtraInfo());
         assertTrue(v.isGAECompliant().booleanValue());
-        assertEquals(new Date(5000), v.getBuildDate());
+        assertNull(v.getBuildDate());
     }
 
     @Test
@@ -147,8 +147,8 @@
         assertTrue(v1.hashCode() != v2.hashCode());
         
         v2 = new Version(1, 2, 3, "beta2", null, new Date(5000));
-        assertTrue(!v1.equals(v2));
-        assertTrue(v1.hashCode() != v2.hashCode());
+        assertTrue(v1.equals(v2));
+        assertTrue(v1.hashCode() == v2.hashCode());
         
         v2 = new Version("1.2.9-beta2");
         assertTrue(!v1.equals(v2));