diff --git a/SConstruct b/SConstruct
index acd46b8e2ad..ea4f82e0b86 100644
--- a/SConstruct
+++ b/SConstruct
@@ -46,15 +46,10 @@ opts.Add(PathOption('desktopdir', 'sets the desktop entry directory to a non-def
 # Setup
 #
 
-# FIXME: Currently this will only work under Linux
-svnrev = commands.getoutput("svnversion -n . 2>/dev/null")
-
 env = Environment(options = opts)
 
 env.TargetSignatures('content')
 
-env["CXXFLAGS"].append('-DSVNREV=\'"%s"\'' % svnrev)
-
 # Omits the 'test' target 
 all = env.Alias("all", ["wesnoth", "wesnoth_editor", "wesnothd", "campaignd",
                         "cutter", "exploder"])
@@ -132,6 +127,9 @@ extralibs=[]
 # Link only on demand, so we don't need separate link lists for each binary
 env["LINKFLAGS"].append("-Wl,--as-needed")
 
+# Later in the recipe we will guarantee that src/revision.hpp exists 
+env["CXXFLAGS"].append('-DHAVE_REVISION')
+
 if env["debug"]:
     env["CXXFLAGS"] += Split("-O0 -DDEBUG -ggdb3 -W -Wall -ansi")
 else:
@@ -453,12 +451,11 @@ env.Program("test", test_sources,
             LIBS =  ['wesnoth_core', 'wesnoth_sdl', 'wesnothd'] + commonlibs + ['boost_unit_test_framework'],
             LIBPATH = [".", "/lib", "/usr/lib"])
 
-# FIXME: Include this in gameconfig.cpp when we switch over to scons.
-# Because of the content check, scons will do the right thing.
-# At that point the following line and -DSVNREV can be removed from CXXFLAGS.
-env.Depends('src/game_config.o', 'revision_stamp.h')
-r = env.Command("revision_stamp.h", [],
-            'echo "#define REVISION \"%s\"" >revision_stamp.h' % svnrev)
+# FIXME: Currently this will only work under Linux
+svnrev = commands.getoutput("svnversion -n . 2>/dev/null")
+env.Depends('src/game_config.o', 'src/revision.hpp')
+r = env.Command("revision.h", [],
+            'echo "#define REVISION \"%s\"" >src/revision.h' % svnrev)
 env.AlwaysBuild(r)
 
 #
diff --git a/src/Makefile.am b/src/Makefile.am
index 2d39c0f9e4a..9ec15373a51 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/Makefile.am
@@ -1,7 +1,3 @@
-SVNREV = $(shell svnversion -n $(topdir) 2>/dev/null)
-CFLAGS += "-DSVNREV=\"$(SVNREV)\""
-CXXFLAGS += "-DSVNREV=\"$(SVNREV)\""
-
 AUTOMAKE_OPTIONS = subdir-objects
 
 bin_PROGRAMS =
@@ -439,20 +435,25 @@ libwesnoth_a_SOURCES = \
 	wml_exception.cpp 
 
 # Until game_config.cpp is removed, this will be needed to ensure that the
-# SVNVER constant gets updated correctly.  If and when that definition is
+# REVISION constant gets updated correctly.  If and when that definition is
 # moved elsewhere, this dependency must follow it.
-game_config.o: revision-stamp 
+game_config.o: revision.hpp 
 
 # Should be touched each time the SVN revision number goes up 
-revision-stamp: FORCE
-	if [ x"$(SVNREV)" != x`cat revision-stamp 2>/dev/null` ]; then echo -n $(SVNREV) >revision-stamp; fi
+# Inclusion of this file should be guarded by HAVE_REVISION so checkouts 
+# into a Windows build environment won't break.
+REVISION = $(shell svnversion -n $(topdir) 2>/dev/null)
+.PRECIOUS: revision.hpp
+revision.hpp: FORCE
+	echo '#define REVISION	"$(REVISION)"' >/tmp/westemp$$$$; \
+	if cmp -s revision.hpp /tmp/westemp$$$$ 2>/dev/null; then :; else cp /tmp/westemp$$ revision.hpp; fi
 
 FORCE:
 
-AM_CXXFLAGS = -I../intl -I$(top_srcdir)/intl @SDL_CFLAGS@  -DWESNOTH_PATH=\"$(pkgdatadir)\" \
+AM_CXXFLAGS = -DHAVE_REVISION -I../intl -I$(top_srcdir)/intl @SDL_CFLAGS@  -DWESNOTH_PATH=\"$(pkgdatadir)\" \
 	-DLOCALEDIR=\"$(LOCALEDIR)\" -DHAS_RELATIVE_LOCALEDIR=$(HAS_RELATIVE_LOCALEDIR) -DFIFODIR=\"$(fifodir)\"
 
-AM_CFLAGS = -I../intl -I$(top_srcdir)/intl @SDL_CFLAGS@ -DWESNOTH_PATH=\"$(pkgdatadir)\" \
+AM_CFLAGS = -DHAVE_REVISION -I../intl -I$(top_srcdir)/intl @SDL_CFLAGS@ -DWESNOTH_PATH=\"$(pkgdatadir)\" \
 	-DLOCALEDIR=\"$(LOCALEDIR)\" -DHAS_RELATIVE_LOCALEDIR=$(HAS_RELATIVE_LOCALEDIR)
 
 if PYTHON
diff --git a/src/game_config.cpp b/src/game_config.cpp
index 3ec2eafd1db..08a2f624fb1 100644
--- a/src/game_config.cpp
+++ b/src/game_config.cpp
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@
 #include "util.hpp"
 #include "serialization/string_utils.hpp"
 #include "wesconfig.h"
+#ifdef HAVE_REVISION
+#include "revision.hpp"
+#endif /* HAVE_REVISION */
 
 #include <cstdlib>
 #include <sstream>
@@ -40,8 +43,8 @@ namespace game_config
 	const int gold_carryover_percentage = 80;
 	const bool gold_carryover_add = false;
 	const std::string version = VERSION;
-#ifdef SVNREV
-	const std::string revision = VERSION " (" SVNREV ")";
+#ifdef REVISION
+	const std::string revision = VERSION " (" REVISION ")";
 #else
 	const std::string revision = VERSION;
 #endif