diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 654402fb76cacf24d2cfb43cf3ccf1f464e350e8..54df9de28d91f9cc25fa20afaf03acd516afdcf6 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 /src/*.o
 /src/*.inc
 /src/feh
+/man/*.1
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 13d2bc0d095dce049a7bf7a3cfd92553cf6b38a7..05a3d8333694fe8520ab396cf3270d38e80e9ae4 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,8 +1,13 @@
 include config.mk
 
-all:
+all: build-src build-man
+
+build-src:
 	@${MAKE} -C src
 
+build-man:
+	@${MAKE} -C man
+
 test: all
 	@PACKAGE=${PACKAGE} VERSION=${VERSION} prove test
 
@@ -14,7 +19,7 @@ install: install-man install-doc install-bin install-font install-img
 install-man:
 	@echo installing manuals to ${man_dir}
 	@mkdir -p ${man_dir}/man1
-	@cp man/* ${man_dir}/man1
+	@cp man/*.1 ${man_dir}/man1
 	@chmod 644 ${man_dir}/man1/feh.1 ${man_dir}/man1/feh-cam.1 \
 		${man_dir}/man1/gen-cam-menu.1
 
@@ -54,6 +59,7 @@ uninstall:
 
 clean:
 	@${MAKE} -C src clean
+	@${MAKE} -C man clean
 
 .PHONY: all test test-x11 install uninstall clean install-man install-doc \
 	install-bin install-font install-img
diff --git a/man/Makefile b/man/Makefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..35a21b766088424b6a17b2e5282917ea8e88f022
--- /dev/null
+++ b/man/Makefile
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+include ../config.mk
+
+SOURCES = ${shell echo *.pre}
+TARGETS = ${SOURCES:.pre=.1}
+
+all: ${TARGETS}
+
+.pre.1:
+	sed 's/\$$VERSION\$$/${VERSION}/g' < ${@:.1=.pre} > $@
+
+clean:
+	rm *.1
+
+.SUFFIXES: .pre .1
+
+.PHONY: clean
diff --git a/man/feh-cam.1 b/man/feh-cam.pre
similarity index 91%
rename from man/feh-cam.1
rename to man/feh-cam.pre
index a8b01f3f30b2247210ebf62c9b6dfc3562edb30f..ad21341e8c3a123c24b3b9898dcd846d4242555e 100644
--- a/man/feh-cam.1
+++ b/man/feh-cam.pre
@@ -10,6 +10,9 @@
 .Op Ar options
 .Ar keys
 .
+.Sh VERSION
+This manual documents feh-cam, shipped with feh version $VERSION$
+.
 .Sh DESCRIPTION
 .Nm
 is a perl wrapper for feh which simplifies viewing webcams using keyed
diff --git a/man/feh.1 b/man/feh.pre
similarity index 99%
rename from man/feh.1
rename to man/feh.pre
index 88fd49def8cf48bb3e040e5836cc23b6098c3661..3ddc291b6c77125c14ef847d708ace3929d4c65d 100644
--- a/man/feh.1
+++ b/man/feh.pre
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@
 .Ar files or directories ...
 .
 .
+.Sh VERSION
+This manual documents feh $VERSION$
+.
+.
 .Sh DESCRIPTION
 .Nm
 is a mode-based image viewer.  It is especially aimed at commandline users who
diff --git a/man/gen-cam-menu.1 b/man/gen-cam-menu.pre
similarity index 80%
rename from man/gen-cam-menu.1
rename to man/gen-cam-menu.pre
index c8929eba724cf520d653b5f0637db7fdc02b79db..67460e88a21ce95fa4bcf0fa7156863ca9a7f37e 100644
--- a/man/gen-cam-menu.1
+++ b/man/gen-cam-menu.pre
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@
 .Sh SYNOPSIS
 .Nm
 .
+.Sh VERSION
+This manual documents gen-cam-menu, shipped with feh version $VERSION$
+.
 .Sh DESCRIPTION
 .Nm
 is a shell script which creates Enlightenment user menu entries for the