diff --git a/doc/build.xml b/doc/build.xml
index 1e7c058cbe0..55330198e55 100644
--- a/doc/build.xml
+++ b/doc/build.xml
@@ -22,9 +22,11 @@
   <!-- Load user's default properties. -->
   <property file="${user.home}/build.properties" />
 
-  <loadresource property="version">
-    <file file="${basedir}/../share/VERSION.txt"/>
-  </loadresource>
+  <loadfile srcFile="${basedir}/../share/VERSION.txt" property="version">
+    <filterchain>
+      <striplinebreaks/>
+    </filterchain>
+  </loadfile>
 
   <property name="build.dir" value="../build/avro-doc-${version}"/>