diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 21df574df6..2a86e41caf 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -27,6 +27,3 @@ docs/AWS_S3_BUCKET
 docs/GIT_BRANCH
 docs/VERSION
 docs/GITCOMMIT
-dockerversion/static.go
-dockerversion/details.go
-dockerversion/init.go
diff --git a/hack/make.sh b/hack/make.sh
index a841c13424..f97633de57 100755
--- a/hack/make.sh
+++ b/hack/make.sh
@@ -94,17 +94,6 @@ if [ -z "$DOCKER_CLIENTONLY" ]; then
 	DOCKER_BUILDTAGS+=" daemon"
 fi
 
-rm -f dockerversion/static.go dockerversion/details.go dockerversion/init.go
-cat > dockerversion/details.go <<EOF
-// AUTOGENERATED FILE; see hack/make.sh
-package dockerversion
-
-func init() {
-	GITCOMMIT = "$GITCOMMIT"
-	VERSION = "$VERSION"
-}
-EOF
-
 # Use these flags when compiling the tests and final binary
 LDFLAGS='-w'
 LDFLAGS_STATIC='-linkmode external'
@@ -122,6 +111,7 @@ TESTFLAGS+=" -test.timeout=${TIMEOUT}"
 EXTLDFLAGS_STATIC_DOCKER="$EXTLDFLAGS_STATIC -lpthread -Wl,--unresolved-symbols=ignore-in-object-files"
 LDFLAGS_STATIC_DOCKER="
 	$LDFLAGS_STATIC
+	-X $DOCKER_PKG/dockerversion.IAMSTATIC true
 	-extldflags \"$EXTLDFLAGS_STATIC_DOCKER\"
 "
 
diff --git a/hack/make/binary b/hack/make/binary
index 2c71f201b9..b97069a856 100755
--- a/hack/make/binary
+++ b/hack/make/binary
@@ -3,17 +3,6 @@ set -e
 
 DEST=$1
 
-: ${IAMSTATIC:=true}
-
-cat > dockerversion/static.go <<EOF
-// AUTOGENERATED FILE; see hack/make/binary and hack/make/dynbinary
-package dockerversion
-
-func init() {
-	IAMSTATIC = $IAMSTATIC
-}
-EOF
-
 go build \
 	-o "$DEST/docker-$VERSION" \
 	"${BUILDFLAGS[@]}" \
diff --git a/hack/make/dynbinary b/hack/make/dynbinary
index 171dd16ba3..5064a799bd 100644
--- a/hack/make/dynbinary
+++ b/hack/make/dynbinary
@@ -5,14 +5,6 @@ DEST=$1
 
 if [ -z "$DOCKER_CLIENTONLY" ]; then
 	# dockerinit still needs to be a static binary, even if docker is dynamic
-	cat > dockerversion/static.go <<EOF
-// AUTOGENERATED FILE; see hack/make/binary and hack/make/dynbinary
-package dockerversion
-
-func init() {
-	IAMSTATIC = true
-}
-EOF
 	go build \
 		-o "$DEST/dockerinit-$VERSION" \
 		"${BUILDFLAGS[@]}" \
@@ -47,17 +39,7 @@ fi
 # exported so that "dyntest" can easily access it later without recalculating it
 
 (
-	export LDFLAGS_STATIC_DOCKER=""
-	cat > dockerversion/init.go <<EOF
-// AUTOGENERATED FILE; see hack/make/dynbinary, hack/make/dyntest-integration and dyntest-unit
-package dockerversion
-
-func init() {
-	INITSHA1 = "$DOCKER_INITSHA1"
-	INITPATH = "$DOCKER_INITPATH"
-}
-EOF
-	export IAMSTATIC=false
+	export LDFLAGS_STATIC_DOCKER="-X $DOCKER_PKG/dockerversion.INITSHA1 \"$DOCKER_INITSHA1\" -X $DOCKER_PKG/dockerversion.INITPATH \"$DOCKER_INITPATH\""
 	export BUILDFLAGS=( "${BUILDFLAGS[@]/netgo /}" ) # disable netgo, since we don't need it for a dynamic binary
 	source "$(dirname "$BASH_SOURCE")/binary"
 )