diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 6573463f6c..ec15aaae78 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ cdata.set_quoted('PACKAGE_NAME','Geany')
 cdata.set_quoted('PACKAGE_STRING', 'Geany ' + meson.project_version())
 cdata.set_quoted('PACKAGE_VERSION', meson.project_version())
 cdata.set('GETTEXT_PACKAGE', 'PACKAGE')
-cdata.set('VERSION', meson.project_version())
+cdata.set_quoted('VERSION', meson.project_version())
 cdata.set('ENABLE_NLS', 1)
 if (host_machine.system() != 'windows' and get_option('vte'))
 	cdata.set('HAVE_VTE', 1)