diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index bce02949..06da7c99 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ IMAGE_TAGS              ?= $(or $(IMG_TAG_FROM_REF),$(DEFAULT_IMAGE_TAGS))
 IMG                     ?= $(KO_DOCKER_REPO):$(IMAGE_TAGS)
 RELEASE_DIR             ?= release
 PLATFORM                ?= linux/amd64
+VERSION                 ?= $(shell git describe --always --tag --dirty=-dev)
+LDFLAGS                 := -X=github.com/linode/linode-cloud-controller-manager/version.version=$(VERSION)
 
 #####################################################################
 # Dev Setup
@@ -100,13 +102,13 @@ build-linux: codegen
 	echo "cross compiling linode-cloud-controller-manager for linux/amd64" && \
 		GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 \
 		CGO_ENABLED=0 \
-		go build -o dist/linode-cloud-controller-manager-linux-amd64 .
+		go build -ldflags="$(LDFLAGS)" -o dist/linode-cloud-controller-manager-linux-amd64 .
 
 .PHONY: build
 build: codegen
 	echo "compiling linode-cloud-controller-manager" && \
 		CGO_ENABLED=0 \
-		go build -o dist/linode-cloud-controller-manager .
+		go build -ldflags="$(LDFLAGS)" -o dist/linode-cloud-controller-manager .
 
 .PHONY: release
 release:
@@ -123,12 +125,12 @@ imgname:
 .PHONY: ko-build
 # build the container image locally without pushing it to a registry
 ko-build:
-	CGO_ENABLED=0 ko build --local --bare --tags "$(IMAGE_TAGS)" --platform=$(PLATFORM) .
+	CGO_ENABLED=0 GOFLAGS="-ldflags=$(LDFLAGS)" ko build --local --bare --tags "$(IMAGE_TAGS)" --platform=$(PLATFORM) .
 
 .PHONY: ko-publish
 # build the container image and publish it to the registry named by IMG
 ko-publish:
-	CGO_ENABLED=0 KO_DOCKER_REPO="$(KO_DOCKER_REPO)" ko build --bare --tags "$(IMAGE_TAGS)" --platform=$(PLATFORM) .
+	CGO_ENABLED=0 KO_DOCKER_REPO="$(KO_DOCKER_REPO)" GOFLAGS="-ldflags=$(LDFLAGS)" ko build --bare --tags "$(IMAGE_TAGS)" --platform=$(PLATFORM) .
 
 .PHONY: run
 # run the ccm locally, really only makes sense on linux anyway
diff --git a/cloud/linode/client/client.go b/cloud/linode/client/client.go
index 64b52d19..ecfb1d94 100644
--- a/cloud/linode/client/client.go
+++ b/cloud/linode/client/client.go
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/linode/linodego/v2"
 	"k8s.io/klog/v2"
 
+	"github.com/linode/linode-cloud-controller-manager/version"
+
 	_ "github.com/hexdigest/gowrap"
 )
 
@@ -98,7 +100,6 @@ func (t *tokenTransport) RoundTrip(req *http.Request) (*http.Response, error) {
 // New creates a new linode client with a given token and default timeout.
 func New(timeout time.Duration, tokenProvider TokenProvider) (*linodego.Client, error) {
 	var client *linodego.Client
-	userAgent := fmt.Sprintf("linode-cloud-controller-manager %s", linodego.DefaultUserAgent)
 	apiURL := os.Getenv("LINODE_URL")
 	if apiURL == "" {
 		apiURL = DefaultLinodeAPIURL
@@ -117,7 +118,7 @@ func New(timeout time.Duration, tokenProvider TokenProvider) (*linodego.Client,
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	client.SetUserAgent(userAgent)
+	client.SetUserAgent(fmt.Sprintf("linode-CCM/%s", version.GetVersion()))
 
 	klog.V(3).Infof("Linode client created with default timeout of %v", timeout)
 	return client, nil
diff --git a/version/version.go b/version/version.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..314caf78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/version/version.go
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+package version
+
+// version is overridden by build time flags
+var version string
+
+func GetVersion() string {
+	if version == "" {
+		return "dev"
+	}
+
+	return version
+}
diff --git a/version/version_test.go b/version/version_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..28581d2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/version/version_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+package version
+
+import "testing"
+
+func TestVersion(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+	vers := GetVersion()
+	if vers != "dev" {
+		t.Errorf("unset version should be dev, got %s", vers)
+	}
+}