diff --git a/pkgs/development/compilers/ghc/head.nix b/pkgs/development/compilers/ghc/head.nix
index c92f002a0262..6c3041f2943c 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/compilers/ghc/head.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/compilers/ghc/head.nix
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation rec {
 
   postUnpack = ''
     pushd ghc-${builtins.substring 0 7 rev}
+    echo ${version} >VERSION
+    echo ${rev} >GIT_COMMIT_ID
     patchShebangs .
     ./boot
     popd