diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-cmake-pkg.yml b/.github/workflows/build-cmake-pkg.yml
index 5becff09c1..a958870de3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-cmake-pkg.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-cmake-pkg.yml
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ jobs:
                 -DLLAMA_BUILD_TOOLS=OFF \
                 -DLLAMA_BUILD_EXAMPLES=OFF \
                 -DLLAMA_BUILD_APP=OFF \
+                -DLLAMA_BUILD_IS_DEV=OFF \
                 -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
           cmake --build build --config Release
           cmake --install build --prefix "$PREFIX" --config Release
@@ -29,7 +30,12 @@ jobs:
           tclsh <<'EOF'
           set build(commit)  [string trim [exec git rev-parse --short HEAD]]
           set build(number)  [string trim [exec git rev-list  --count HEAD]]
-          set build(version) "0.0.$build(number)"
+
+          set cmakelists [read [open "CMakeLists.txt" r]]
+          regexp {set\(LLAMA_VERSION_MAJOR\s+(\d+)\)} $cmakelists -> major
+          regexp {set\(LLAMA_VERSION_MINOR\s+(\d+)\)} $cmakelists -> minor
+          regexp {set\(LLAMA_VERSION_PATCH\s+(\d+)\)} $cmakelists -> patch
+          set build(version) "$major.$minor.$patch"
 
           set llamaconfig [read [open "$env(LLAMA_CONFIG)" r]]
           set checks [list "set\\(LLAMA_VERSION     \\s+$build(version)\\)" \
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-cpu.yml b/.github/workflows/build-cpu.yml
index 30b07ce788..57622e1d45 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-cpu.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-cpu.yml
@@ -95,7 +95,8 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           cmake -B build \
             -DLLAMA_FATAL_WARNINGS=ON \
-            -DGGML_RPC=ON
+            -DGGML_RPC=ON \
+            -DGGML_NATIVE=OFF
           time cmake --build build --config Release -j $(nproc)
 
       - name: Test
diff --git a/.github/workflows/make-release.yml b/.github/workflows/make-release.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..fed9c877c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/make-release.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+name: Make Release
+
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      dry_run:
+        description: 'Dry run - validate without creating the tag'
+        required: true
+        type: boolean
+        default: true
+
+env:
+  GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+
+permissions:
+  contents: write
+
+jobs:
+  make-release:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v6
+
+      - name: Run release checks
+        id: checks
+        run: bash scripts/make-release-checks.sh ${{ github.event.inputs.dry_run == 'true' && '--dry-run' || '' }}
+        env:
+          GITHUB_REPOSITORY: ${{ github.repository }}
+
+      - name: Create release tag
+        if: ${{ github.event.inputs.dry_run == 'false' }}
+        run: |
+          VERSION="${{ steps.checks.outputs.version }}"
+          git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
+          git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
+          git tag -a "${VERSION}" -m "Release ${VERSION}"
+          git push origin "${VERSION}"
+          echo "Created and pushed tag ${VERSION}"
+
+      - name: Dry run summary
+        if: ${{ github.event.inputs.dry_run == 'true' }}
+        run: |
+          echo "Dry run complete - all checks passed."
+          echo "Would have created tag: ${{ steps.checks.outputs.version }}"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/winget.yml b/.github/workflows/winget.yml
index 69e24f9400..c0a814f3ad 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/winget.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/winget.yml
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           cargo binstall komac@2.16.0 -y
 
+      # TODO: This should later be updated to publish releases instead of
+      # development release builds.
       - name: Find latest release
         id: find_latest_release
         uses: actions/github-script@v8
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 3df1d82dbe..b2092d12dd 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -2,6 +2,26 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.14...3.28) # for add_link_options and implicit
 project("llama.cpp" C CXX)
 include(CheckIncludeFileCXX)
 
+### llama.cpp version
+set(LLAMA_VERSION_MAJOR 0)
+set(LLAMA_VERSION_MINOR 1)
+set(LLAMA_VERSION_PATCH 0)
+set(LLAMA_VERSION_BASE "${LLAMA_VERSION_MAJOR}.${LLAMA_VERSION_MINOR}.${LLAMA_VERSION_PATCH}")
+
+# whether this is a development/nightly build
+# set this to OFF when making a release from a release tag (vX.Y.Z)
+# ref: https://github.com/ggml-org/ggml/discussions/1579
+option(LLAMA_BUILD_IS_DEV "llama: dev build" ON)
+
+if (LLAMA_BUILD_IS_DEV)
+    set(LLAMA_VERSION "${LLAMA_VERSION_BASE}-dev")
+else()
+    # TODO: check that the current commit is tagged correctly according to the version specified above
+    set(LLAMA_VERSION "${LLAMA_VERSION_BASE}")
+endif()
+
+message(STATUS "llama.cpp version: ${LLAMA_VERSION}")
+
 #set(CMAKE_WARN_DEPRECATED YES)
 set(CMAKE_WARN_UNUSED_CLI YES)
 
@@ -24,9 +44,6 @@ if (CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR STREQUAL CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR)
     set(LLAMA_STANDALONE ON)
 
     include(git-vars)
-
-    # configure project version
-    # TODO
 else()
     set(LLAMA_STANDALONE OFF)
 endif()
@@ -139,7 +156,6 @@ endif()
 if (NOT DEFINED LLAMA_BUILD_COMMIT)
     set(LLAMA_BUILD_COMMIT        ${BUILD_COMMIT})
 endif()
-set(LLAMA_INSTALL_VERSION 0.0.${LLAMA_BUILD_NUMBER})
 
 # override ggml options
 set(GGML_ALL_WARNINGS   ${LLAMA_ALL_WARNINGS})
@@ -275,12 +291,12 @@ configure_package_config_file(
               LLAMA_BIN_INSTALL_DIR )
 
 write_basic_package_version_file(
-        ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/llama-version.cmake
-    VERSION ${LLAMA_INSTALL_VERSION}
+        ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/llama-config-version.cmake
+        VERSION ${LLAMA_VERSION}
     COMPATIBILITY SameMajorVersion)
 
 install(FILES ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/llama-config.cmake
-              ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/llama-version.cmake
+              ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/llama-config-version.cmake
         DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}/cmake/llama)
 
 configure_file(cmake/llama.pc.in
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index fc7633a7c5..1b341e7fbc 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@ The `llama.cpp` project is build on top of the [ggml](https://github.com/ggml-or
 - [XCFramework](docs/xcframework.md)
 - [Completions](docs/completions.md)
 - [Models](docs/models.md)
+- [Release process](docs/release.md)
 
 ## Contributing
 
diff --git a/app/llama.cpp b/app/llama.cpp
index 2cf1aa876c..3b7e46f20d 100644
--- a/app/llama.cpp
+++ b/app/llama.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 #include "build-info.h"
 
+#include "llama.h"
+
 #include <cstdio>
 #include <cstdlib>
 #include <string>
@@ -77,12 +79,12 @@ static const command cmds[] = {
 
 #undef UPDATE_HIDDEN
 
-static int version(int argc, char ** argv) {
-    printf("%s\n", llama_build_info());
+static int version(int /*argc*/, char ** /*argv*/) {
+    llama_print_build_info(llama_version());
     return 0;
 }
 
-static int licenses(int argc, char ** argv) {
+static int licenses(int /*argc*/, char ** /*argv*/) {
     for (int i = 0; LICENSES[i]; ++i) {
         printf("%s\n", LICENSES[i]);
     }
diff --git a/cmake/llama-config.cmake.in b/cmake/llama-config.cmake.in
index b4defc76ff..6db73577ae 100644
--- a/cmake/llama-config.cmake.in
+++ b/cmake/llama-config.cmake.in
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-set(LLAMA_VERSION      @LLAMA_INSTALL_VERSION@)
+set(LLAMA_VERSION      @LLAMA_VERSION@)
 set(LLAMA_BUILD_COMMIT @LLAMA_BUILD_COMMIT@)
 set(LLAMA_BUILD_NUMBER @LLAMA_BUILD_NUMBER@)
 set(LLAMA_SHARED_LIB   @BUILD_SHARED_LIBS@)
diff --git a/cmake/llama.pc.in b/cmake/llama.pc.in
index 6fb58b5f68..31b043c0e3 100644
--- a/cmake/llama.pc.in
+++ b/cmake/llama.pc.in
@@ -5,6 +5,6 @@ includedir=@CMAKE_INSTALL_FULL_INCLUDEDIR@
 
 Name: llama
 Description: Port of Facebook's LLaMA model in C/C++
-Version: @LLAMA_INSTALL_VERSION@
+Version: @LLAMA_VERSION@
 Libs: -L${libdir} -lggml -lggml-base -lllama
 Cflags: -I${includedir}
diff --git a/common/CMakeLists.txt b/common/CMakeLists.txt
index 799d227519..d6cfc9a008 100644
--- a/common/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/common/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -121,8 +121,8 @@ add_library(${TARGET}
     )
 
 set_target_properties(${TARGET} PROPERTIES
-    VERSION ${LLAMA_INSTALL_VERSION}
-    SOVERSION 0
+    VERSION ${LLAMA_VERSION_BASE}
+    SOVERSION ${LLAMA_VERSION_MAJOR}
     MACHO_CURRENT_VERSION 0 # keep macOS linker from seeing oversized version number
 )
 
diff --git a/common/arg.cpp b/common/arg.cpp
index cb314eee70..b2fddfe5f2 100644
--- a/common/arg.cpp
+++ b/common/arg.cpp
@@ -1390,8 +1390,7 @@ common_params_context common_params_parser_init(common_params & params, llama_ex
         {"--version"},
         "show version and build info",
         [](common_params &) {
-            fprintf(stderr, "version: %d (%s)\n", llama_build_number(), llama_commit());
-            fprintf(stderr, "built with %s for %s\n", llama_compiler(), llama_build_target());
+            llama_print_build_info(llama_version());
             exit(0);
         }
     ));
diff --git a/common/build-info.cpp.in b/common/build-info.cpp.in
index f888fd079f..4ec3397081 100644
--- a/common/build-info.cpp.in
+++ b/common/build-info.cpp.in
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ const char * llama_build_info(void) {
     return s.c_str();
 }
 
-void llama_print_build_info(void) {
-    fprintf(stderr, "%s: build = %d (%s)\n",      __func__, llama_build_number(), llama_commit());
-    fprintf(stderr, "%s: built with %s for %s\n", __func__, llama_compiler(), llama_build_target());
+void llama_print_build_info(const char * llama_version) {
+    fprintf(stderr, "version: %s (build %d, commit %s)\n", llama_version, llama_build_number(), llama_commit());
+    fprintf(stderr, "built with %s for %s\n", llama_compiler(), llama_build_target());
 }
diff --git a/common/build-info.h b/common/build-info.h
index 382cfa7850..1e564591a6 100644
--- a/common/build-info.h
+++ b/common/build-info.h
@@ -8,4 +8,4 @@ const char * llama_compiler(void);
 const char * llama_build_target(void);
 const char * llama_build_info(void);
 
-void llama_print_build_info(void);
+void llama_print_build_info(const char *);
diff --git a/docs/release.md b/docs/release.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4335ef9d42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/release.md
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+# Release process
+
+llama.cpp uses [semantic versioning](https://semver.org) (`MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH`).
+
+## Version bump guidelines
+
+| Change type | Version component |
+|---|---|
+| Breaking change to the public C API (`include/llama.h`)         | `MAJOR` |
+| Backward-compatible features, model support, or API addition    | `MINOR` |
+| Bug fix with no API change                                      | `PATCH` |
+
+The version is set in the three variables at the top of the root `CMakeLists.txt`:
+
+```cmake
+set(LLAMA_VERSION_MAJOR 0)
+set(LLAMA_VERSION_MINOR 1)
+set(LLAMA_VERSION_PATCH 0)
+```
+
+_A version bump should be included in the PR that introduces the change, or in a
+dedicated bump commit merged before the release is cut._
+
+_TODO: add PR labels (`semver: patch`, `semver: minor`, `semver: major`) to help
+identify which PRs require a version bump before cutting a release._
+
+## Making a release
+
+Releases are created by running the [make-release](.github/workflows/make-release.yml)
+which is a manual workflow.
+
+The workflow creates an annotated git tag (e.g. `v0.1.0`) and pushes it to the
+remote. No GitHub Release object is created, the tag is the release artifact.
+
+## Building a release
+
+By default, `LLAMA_BUILD_IS_DEV=ON` which appends a `-dev` suffix to `LLAMA_VERSION`,
+marking the build as a nightly/development build. Distributors building from a
+release tag must pass `-DLLAMA_BUILD_IS_DEV=OFF` to produce a clean version string
+(e.g. `0.1.0` instead of `0.1.0-dev`).
+
+## How releases reach users
+Currently releases are not published to github releases, only nightly/development
+builds are available there. The way users can access releases are using the following
+channels:
+
+- **llama-install.sh**  — downloads pre-built binaries built from the release tag.
+- **Package managers**  — consume the git tag directly.
+- **Build from source** — users clone the repo and check out the tag.
diff --git a/examples/test-cmake/.gitignore b/examples/test-cmake/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0ddff317a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/test-cmake/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+llama-build-install
+install
+build
diff --git a/examples/test-cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/examples/test-cmake/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ed5cb1f3c2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/test-cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.14)
+project(llama-simple)
+
+set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
+
+find_package(llama 0.1.0 REQUIRED)
+
+add_executable(test-cmake test-cmake.cpp)
+target_link_libraries(test-cmake PRIVATE llama)
+target_compile_definitions(test-cmake PRIVATE
+    LLAMA_BUILD_NUMBER=${LLAMA_BUILD_NUMBER}
+    LLAMA_BUILD_COMMIT="${LLAMA_BUILD_COMMIT}"
+)
diff --git a/examples/test-cmake/README.md b/examples/test-cmake/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..21e5eb9607
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/test-cmake/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+## cmake-test
+
+This is just for manually testing/developing of a llama.cpp installation to
+enable troubleshooting issues and exploration. The idea is that this can be used
+after making changes to llama.cpp installation cmake configuration and then
+verify it locally.
+
+### Usage
+The following will configure, build, and install llama.cpp
+
+Configuring/build/install:
+```console
+./build-install.sh
+```
+The above command will create a directory named `install` in the current directory
+which will have the follwing files in its lib directory:
+```console
+(venv) $ ls install/lib/
+cmake                   libggml.so          libllama-common.so.0      libllama.so.0.1.0  llama.cpp
+libggml-base.so         libggml.so.0        libllama-common.so.0.1.0  libmtmd.so         pkgconfig
+libggml-base.so.0       libggml.so.0.19.0   libllama.so               libmtmd.so.0
+libggml-base.so.0.19.0  libllama-common.so  libllama.so.0             libmtmd.so.0.1.0
+```
+
+Build/run this project using the installation created above:
+```console
+(venv) $ ./build.sh
+-- Configuring done (0.0s)
+-- Generating done (0.0s)
+-- Build files have been written to: /home/danbev/work/ai/llama.cpp/examples/test-cmake/build
+[100%] Built target test-cmake
+[test-cmake] Using llama.cpp version 0.1.0-dev-b10335
+[test-cmake] Initializing backend...
+load_backend: loaded CPU backend from /home/danbev/work/ai/llama.cpp/examples/test-cmake/install/lib/llama.cpp/libggml-cpu-alderlake.so
+[test-cmake] Backend initialized.
+```
diff --git a/examples/test-cmake/build-install.sh b/examples/test-cmake/build-install.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..77a6713d67
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/test-cmake/build-install.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -e
+
+rm -rf llama-build-install install
+
+cmake --fresh -S ../../. -B llama-build-install -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
+  -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON \
+  -DGGML_BACKEND_DL=ON \
+  -DGGML_CPU_ALL_VARIANTS=ON \
+  -DLLAMA_TESTS_INSTALL=OFF \
+  -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="${PWD}/install" \
+  -DGGML_BACKEND_DIR="${PWD}/install/lib/llama.cpp" \
+  -DGGML_LIB_INSTALL_DIR="${PWD}/install/lib/llama.cpp" \
+  -DLLAMA_LIB_INSTALL_DIR="${PWD}/install/lib/llama.cpp" \
+  -DLLAMA_TOOLS_INSTALL=OFF
+
+cmake --build llama-build-install --parallel 12
+cmake --install llama-build-install
diff --git a/examples/test-cmake/build.sh b/examples/test-cmake/build.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..a212732b89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/test-cmake/build.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+set -e
+
+cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="${PWD}/install"
+cmake --build build
+LD_LIBRARY_PATH="${PWD}/install/lib/llama.cpp:${PWD}/install/lib${LD_LIBRARY_PATH:+:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH}" ./build/test-cmake
diff --git a/examples/test-cmake/test-cmake.cpp b/examples/test-cmake/test-cmake.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c5c4765b43
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/test-cmake/test-cmake.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#include "llama.h"
+#include <cstdio>
+
+int main(void) {
+    printf("[test-cmake] version: %s, build: %d (%s)\n",
+           llama_version(), LLAMA_BUILD_NUMBER, LLAMA_BUILD_COMMIT);
+    printf("[test-cmake] Initializing backend...\n");
+    llama_backend_init();
+    printf("[test-cmake] Backend initialized.\n");
+    llama_backend_free();
+    return 0;
+}
diff --git a/include/llama.h b/include/llama.h
index ef278c9c32..177fc10a91 100644
--- a/include/llama.h
+++ b/include/llama.h
@@ -457,6 +457,8 @@ extern "C" {
     // lora adapter
     struct llama_adapter_lora;
 
+    LLAMA_API const char * llama_version(void);
+
     // Helpers for getting default parameters
     // TODO: update API to start accepting pointers to params structs (https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/discussions/9172)
     LLAMA_API struct llama_model_params          llama_model_default_params(void);
diff --git a/scripts/make-release-checks.sh b/scripts/make-release-checks.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..c8c6322841
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/make-release-checks.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Run all pre-release checks and determine the release version.
+#
+# Usage: make-release-checks.sh [--dry-run]
+#   --dry-run: warn on failures instead of aborting
+#
+# Env (when running in GitHub Actions): GH_TOKEN, GITHUB_REPOSITORY, GITHUB_OUTPUT
+set -euo pipefail
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+REPO_ROOT="$(cd "$SCRIPT_DIR/.." && pwd)"
+
+DRY_RUN=false
+for arg in "$@"; do
+    case "$arg" in
+        --dry-run) DRY_RUN=true ;;
+        *) echo "Unknown argument: $arg"; exit 1 ;;
+    esac
+done
+
+MAJOR=$(grep "set(LLAMA_VERSION_MAJOR" "$REPO_ROOT/CMakeLists.txt" | grep -oP '\d+')
+MINOR=$(grep "set(LLAMA_VERSION_MINOR" "$REPO_ROOT/CMakeLists.txt" | grep -oP '\d+')
+PATCH=$(grep "set(LLAMA_VERSION_PATCH" "$REPO_ROOT/CMakeLists.txt" | grep -oP '\d+')
+VERSION="v${MAJOR}.${MINOR}.${PATCH}"
+echo "Determined version: ${VERSION}"
+if [[ -n "${GITHUB_OUTPUT:-}" ]]; then
+    echo "version=${VERSION}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+fi
+
+echo "Checking that tag ${VERSION} does not already exist..."
+if git ls-remote --tags origin "${VERSION}" | grep -q "${VERSION}"; then
+    echo "Error: tag ${VERSION} already exists on remote"
+    exit 1
+fi
+echo "Tag ${VERSION} does not exist on remote - OK"
+
+SHA=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
+echo "Checking release.yml status for commit ${SHA}..."
+if [[ -z "${GITHUB_REPOSITORY:-}" ]]; then
+    echo "Warning: GITHUB_REPOSITORY not set - skipping CI check (local run)"
+else
+    RUNS=$(gh api "repos/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}/actions/workflows/release.yml/runs" \
+        --jq "[.workflow_runs[] | select(.head_sha == \"${SHA}\" and .conclusion == \"success\")] | length")
+    if [[ "$RUNS" -eq 0 ]]; then
+        if [[ "$DRY_RUN" == "true" ]]; then
+            echo "Warning: no successful release.yml run found for HEAD (${SHA}) (dry run, continuing)."
+        else
+            echo "Error: no successful release.yml run found for HEAD (${SHA})"
+            echo "The nightly build must complete successfully before making a release."
+            exit 1
+        fi
+    else
+        echo "Found successful release.yml run for HEAD."
+    fi
+fi
+
+MAJOR=$(grep "set(GGML_VERSION_MAJOR" "$REPO_ROOT/ggml/CMakeLists.txt" | grep -oP '\d+')
+MINOR=$(grep "set(GGML_VERSION_MINOR" "$REPO_ROOT/ggml/CMakeLists.txt" | grep -oP '\d+')
+PATCH=$(grep "set(GGML_VERSION_PATCH" "$REPO_ROOT/ggml/CMakeLists.txt" | grep -oP '\d+')
+GGML_VERSION="v${MAJOR}.${MINOR}.${PATCH}"
+echo "Local ggml version: ${GGML_VERSION}"
+
+if ! git clone --depth 1 --branch "${GGML_VERSION}" https://github.com/ggml-org/ggml.git upstream-ggml 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "Warning: tag ${GGML_VERSION} not found in upstream ggml - skipping comparison"
+else
+    echo "Comparing local ggml/ src and include with upstream ${GGML_VERSION}..."
+    DIFF=$(diff -rq "$REPO_ROOT/ggml/src"          upstream-ggml/src          2>&1 || true)
+    DIFF+=$(diff -rq "$REPO_ROOT/ggml/include"     upstream-ggml/include      2>&1 || true)
+    DIFF+=$(diff     "$REPO_ROOT/ggml/CMakeLists.txt" upstream-ggml/CMakeLists.txt 2>&1 || true)
+    rm -rf upstream-ggml
+    if [[ -n "$DIFF" ]]; then
+        echo "local ggml/ differs from upstream ${GGML_VERSION}:"
+        echo "$DIFF"
+        if [[ "$DRY_RUN" == "true" ]]; then
+            echo "Warning: would abort release due to ggml mismatch (dry run, continuing)."
+        else
+            echo "Error: ggml must match upstream before making a release."
+            exit 1
+        fi
+    else
+        echo "local ggml/ matches upstream ${GGML_VERSION}"
+    fi
+fi
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 24f05cc916..39ba3061f7 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -45,11 +45,16 @@ add_library(llama
             )
 
 set_target_properties(llama PROPERTIES
-    VERSION ${LLAMA_INSTALL_VERSION}
-    SOVERSION 0
+    VERSION ${LLAMA_VERSION_BASE}
+    SOVERSION ${LLAMA_VERSION_MAJOR}
     MACHO_CURRENT_VERSION 0 # keep macOS linker from seeing oversized version number
 )
 
+target_compile_definitions(llama PRIVATE
+    LLAMA_VERSION="${LLAMA_VERSION}"
+    LLAMA_COMMIT="${LLAMA_BUILD_COMMIT}"
+)
+
 target_include_directories(llama PRIVATE .)
 target_include_directories(llama PUBLIC ../include)
 target_compile_features   (llama PRIVATE cxx_std_17) # don't bump
diff --git a/src/llama.cpp b/src/llama.cpp
index 94c8f60e0c..9ff1902fc1 100644
--- a/src/llama.cpp
+++ b/src/llama.cpp
@@ -114,6 +114,10 @@ bool llama_supports_rpc(void) {
     return ggml_backend_reg_by_name("RPC") != nullptr;
 }
 
+const char * llama_version(void) {
+    return LLAMA_VERSION;
+}
+
 void llama_backend_init(void) {
     ggml_time_init();
 
diff --git a/tests/test-quantize-stats.cpp b/tests/test-quantize-stats.cpp
index c655575340..e07d75b7e7 100644
--- a/tests/test-quantize-stats.cpp
+++ b/tests/test-quantize-stats.cpp
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
         return 1;
     }
 
-    llama_print_build_info();
+    llama_print_build_info(llama_version());
 
     // load the model
     fprintf(stderr, "Loading model\n");
diff --git a/tools/cvector-generator/cvector-generator.cpp b/tools/cvector-generator/cvector-generator.cpp
index 8c6b3d868d..558c37e612 100644
--- a/tools/cvector-generator/cvector-generator.cpp
+++ b/tools/cvector-generator/cvector-generator.cpp
@@ -421,7 +421,7 @@ int main(int argc, char ** argv) {
     params.cb_eval_user_data = &cb_data;
     params.warmup = false;
 
-    llama_print_build_info();
+    llama_print_build_info(llama_version());
     llama_backend_init();
     llama_numa_init(params.numa);
 
diff --git a/tools/gguf-split/gguf-split.cpp b/tools/gguf-split/gguf-split.cpp
index 5cafcc9aa9..c6cdbb98e2 100644
--- a/tools/gguf-split/gguf-split.cpp
+++ b/tools/gguf-split/gguf-split.cpp
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ static void split_params_parse_ex(int argc, const char ** argv, split_params & p
             split_print_usage(argv[0]);
             exit(0);
         } else if (arg == "--version") {
-            fprintf(stderr, "version: %d (%s)\n", llama_build_number(), llama_commit());
+            fprintf(stderr, "version: %s (build %d, commit %s)\n", llama_version(), llama_build_number(), llama_commit());
             fprintf(stderr, "built with %s for %s\n", llama_compiler(), llama_build_target());
             exit(0);
         } else if (arg == "--dry-run") {
diff --git a/tools/mtmd/CMakeLists.txt b/tools/mtmd/CMakeLists.txt
index 3f4a6c670d..769a44e0b7 100644
--- a/tools/mtmd/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tools/mtmd/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -72,8 +72,8 @@ add_library(mtmd
             )
 
 set_target_properties(mtmd PROPERTIES
-    VERSION ${LLAMA_INSTALL_VERSION}
-    SOVERSION 0
+    VERSION ${LLAMA_VERSION_BASE}
+    SOVERSION ${LLAMA_VERSION_MAJOR}
     MACHO_CURRENT_VERSION 0 # keep macOS linker from seeing oversized version number
 )
 
diff --git a/tools/quantize/quantize.cpp b/tools/quantize/quantize.cpp
index 15ef64c4b0..8d03c8fcd4 100644
--- a/tools/quantize/quantize.cpp
+++ b/tools/quantize/quantize.cpp
@@ -611,7 +611,7 @@ int llama_quantize(int argc, char ** argv) {
         }
     }
 
-    llama_print_build_info();
+    llama_print_build_info(llama_version());
 
     if (params.dry_run) {
         fprintf(stderr, "%s: calculating quantization size for '%s' as %s", __func__, fname_inp.c_str(), ftype_str.c_str());