diff --git a/cmd/swarm/main.go b/cmd/swarm/main.go
index ccbb24eec3..dbb4201eca 100644
--- a/cmd/swarm/main.go
+++ b/cmd/swarm/main.go
@@ -66,9 +66,10 @@ OPTIONS:
 {{end}}{{end}}
 `
 
-var (
-	gitCommit string // Git SHA1 commit hash of the release (set via linker flags)
-)
+// Git SHA1 commit hash of the release (set via linker flags)
+// this variable will be assigned if corresponding parameter is passed with install, but not with test
+// e.g.: go install -ldflags "-X main.gitCommit=ed1312d01b19e04ef578946226e5d8069d5dfd5a" ./cmd/swarm
+var gitCommit string
 
 //declare a few constant error messages, useful for later error check comparisons in test
 var (
@@ -89,6 +90,7 @@ var defaultNodeConfig = node.DefaultConfig
 
 // This init function sets defaults so cmd/swarm can run alongside geth.
 func init() {
+	sv.GitCommit = gitCommit
 	defaultNodeConfig.Name = clientIdentifier
 	defaultNodeConfig.Version = sv.VersionWithCommit(gitCommit)
 	defaultNodeConfig.P2P.ListenAddr = ":30399"
diff --git a/swarm/version/version.go b/swarm/version/version.go
index 15adf13fb9..9c72481104 100644
--- a/swarm/version/version.go
+++ b/swarm/version/version.go
@@ -41,8 +41,7 @@ var VersionWithMeta = func() string {
 	return v
 }()
 
-// this variable will be assigned if corresponding parameter is passed with install, but not with test
-// e.g.: go install -ldflags "-X main.gitCommit=ed1312d01b19e04ef578946226e5d8069d5dfd5a" ./cmd/swarm
+// Git SHA1 commit hash of the release, will be set by main.init() function
 var GitCommit string
 
 // ArchiveVersion holds the textual version string used for Swarm archives.
@@ -55,7 +54,6 @@ func ArchiveVersion(gitCommit string) string {
 	}
 	if len(gitCommit) >= 8 {
 		vsn += "-" + gitCommit[:8]
-		GitCommit = gitCommit[:8]
 	}
 	return vsn
 }
@@ -64,7 +62,6 @@ func VersionWithCommit(gitCommit string) string {
 	vsn := Version
 	if len(gitCommit) >= 8 {
 		vsn += "-" + gitCommit[:8]
-		GitCommit = gitCommit[:8]
 	}
 	return vsn
 }