diff --git a/bin/forester/dune b/bin/forester/dune
index 008b058..c025a52 100644
--- a/bin/forester/dune
+++ b/bin/forester/dune
@@ -14,18 +14,6 @@
   min.js
   (glob_files_rec theme/*)))
 
-(rule
- (deps (universe))
- (action
-  (with-stdout-to
-   version.txt
-   (progn
-    (echo "Forester development version -- built from commit ")
-    (system
-     "(git show -s --format=%h 2>/dev/null || echo '(unknown)') | tr -d '\n'")
-    (echo " on ")
-    (system "date +'%Y-%m-%d'")))))
-
 (executable
  (public_name forester)
  (name main)
@@ -34,9 +22,7 @@
  (link_flags
   (:standard -g))
  (preprocess
-  (pps ppx_deriving.show ppx_blob))
- (preprocessor_deps
-  (file version.txt))
+  (pps ppx_deriving.show))
  (modules main theme_site)
  (libraries
   forester.prelude
diff --git a/bin/forester/main.ml b/bin/forester/main.ml
index fef226a..dfcc311 100644
--- a/bin/forester/main.ml
+++ b/bin/forester/main.ml
@@ -37,8 +37,7 @@ let version =
     | None -> "n/a"
     | Some v -> Build_info.V1.Version.to_string v
   in
-  let commit = String.trim [%blob "version.txt"] in
-  Format.asprintf "%s %s" major commit
+  Format.asprintf "%s" major
 
 let build ~env _ config_filename dev no_theme =
   Reporter.easy_run @@ fun () ->
diff --git a/dune-project b/dune-project
index 7777c86..fbe7f39 100644
--- a/dune-project
+++ b/dune-project
@@ -101,5 +101,4 @@
   spelll
   (odoc
    (>= 2.4.4 :with-doc))
-  alcotest
-  ppx_blob))
+  alcotest))
diff --git a/forester.opam b/forester.opam
index a64362d..e0e3381 100644
--- a/forester.opam
+++ b/forester.opam
@@ -44,7 +44,6 @@ depends: [
   "spelll"
   "odoc" {"2.4.4" >= with-doc}
   "alcotest"
-  "ppx_blob"
 ]
 build: [
   ["dune" "subst"] {dev}