diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index d2e2504..f6edd7d 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -82,11 +82,20 @@
 (
     cd "$newtdir"
 
+    # Include the build date in `newt version`.
     EXTRA_OPTS="-X mynewt.apache.org/newt/newt/newtutil.NewtDate=$DATE"
+
+    # Include the git hash and dirty state in `newt version`.
     if [ $GIT_HASH != "none" ]; then
         EXTRA_OPTS="${EXTRA_OPTS} -X mynewt.apache.org/newt/newt/newtutil.NewtGitHash=$GIT_HASH"
     fi
 
+    # Allow the user to override the version reported by `newt version`.
+    if [ "$NEWT_VERSION_STR" != "" ]
+    then
+        EXTRA_OPTS="${EXTRA_OPTS} -X mynewt.apache.org/newt/newt/newtutil.NewtVersionStr=$NEWT_VERSION_STR"
+    fi
+
     printf "Building newt.  This may take a minute...\n"
     unset GOPATH
     go build -ldflags "$EXTRA_OPTS"