diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 26e1a8d5..a2c70a42 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ clean-devel: clean
 	-rm -rf _build
 
 clean:
+	-rm -f .build_date
 	./rebar3 clean
 
 compile:
@@ -16,14 +17,17 @@ test:
 	./rebar3 xref
 	./rebar3 eunit
 	./rebar3 cover
-	./covertool -cover _build/test/cover/eunit.coverdata -appname ephp -output cobertura.xml
+	./covertool \
+		-cover _build/test/cover/eunit.coverdata \
+		-appname ephp \
+		-output cobertura.xml
 
 ephp: compile
 	./rebar3 escriptize
 	cp -f _build/default/bin/ephp .
+	-rm -f .build_date
 
 shell:
 	./rebar3 shell
 
 .PHONY: doc test compile all shell
-
diff --git a/rebar.config.script b/rebar.config.script
index 3e9d609a..f7defdfc 100644
--- a/rebar.config.script
+++ b/rebar.config.script
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
-ErlOpts = proplists:get_value(erl_opts, CONFIG),
-case lists:filter(fun({d, 'BUILD_DATE', _}) -> true; (_) -> false end, ErlOpts) of
-    [] ->
-        OldErlOpts = [{erl_opts, ErlOpts}],
-        NewErlOpts = [{erl_opts, [{d, 'BUILD_DATE', {date(), time()}}|ErlOpts]}],
-        (CONFIG -- OldErlOpts) ++ NewErlOpts;
-    [_] ->
-        CONFIG
-end.
+case filelib:is_regular(".build_date") of
+    true -> ok;
+    false -> os:cmd("LANG=POSIX date '+%b %d %Y %T' > .build_date")
+end,
+BuildDate = binary_to_list(element(2,file:read_file(".build_date"))),
+ErlOpts = lists:filter(fun
+    ({d, 'BUILD_DATE', _}) -> false;
+    (_) -> true
+end, proplists:get_value(erl_opts, CONFIG)),
+OldErlOpts = [{erl_opts, ErlOpts}],
+NewErlOpts = [{erl_opts, [{d, 'BUILD_DATE', BuildDate}|ErlOpts]}],
+(CONFIG -- OldErlOpts) ++ NewErlOpts.
diff --git a/src/ephp_lib_info.erl b/src/ephp_lib_info.erl
index ae13ddaf..2927c52b 100644
--- a/src/ephp_lib_info.erl
+++ b/src/ephp_lib_info.erl
@@ -93,14 +93,4 @@ get_vsn() ->
 -spec get_build_date() -> binary().
 
 get_build_date() ->
-    {{Y,M,D},{H,I,S}} = ?BUILD_DATE,
-    Month = ephp_datetime:get_abbr_month(M),
-    Day = ephp_data:pad_to_bin(D,2),
-    Year = integer_to_binary(Y),
-    Hour = ephp_data:pad_to_bin(H,2),
-    Min = ephp_data:pad_to_bin(I,2),
-    Sec = ephp_data:pad_to_bin(S,2),
-    <<
-        Month/binary, " ", Day/binary, " ", Year/binary, " ",
-        Hour/binary, ":", Min/binary, ":", Sec/binary
-    >>.
+    list_to_binary(?BUILD_DATE).