diff --git a/version.sh b/version.sh
index d98731e982..c8abc678ca 100755
--- a/version.sh
+++ b/version.sh
@@ -19,8 +19,15 @@ case "$OS" in
 	last_cvs_update="${year}${month}${day}-${hour}:${minute}"
 	;;
      Darwin) 
-        # darwin's date has different meaning for -r
-	last_cvs_update=`date +%y%m%d-%H:%M`
+	# Darwin/BSD 'date -r' does not print modification time
+	LS=`ls -lT CVS/Entries`
+	year=`echo $LS | cut -d' ' -f9 | cut -c 3-4`
+	month=`echo $LS | awk -F" " '{printf "%.2d", \
+		(index("JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec",$7)+2)/3}'`
+	day=`echo $LS | cut -d' ' -f6`
+	hour=`echo $LS | cut -d' ' -f8 | cut -d: -f1`
+	minute=`echo $LS | cut -d' ' -f8 | cut -d: -f2`
+	last_cvs_update="${year}${month}${day}-${hour}:${minute}"
 	;;
      *)
 	last_cvs_update=`date +%y%m%d-%H:%M`