diff --git a/crypto/Makefile b/crypto/Makefile
index ee5bfbda82..2b6397a24b 100644
--- a/crypto/Makefile
+++ b/crypto/Makefile
@@ -55,12 +55,7 @@ top:
 all: shared
 
 buildinf.h: ../Makefile
-	( echo "#ifndef MK1MF_BUILD"; \
-	echo '  /* auto-generated by crypto/Makefile for crypto/cversion.c */'; \
-	echo '  #define CFLAGS "$(CC) $(CFLAG)"'; \
-	echo '  #define PLATFORM "$(PLATFORM)"'; \
-	echo "  #define DATE \"`LC_ALL=C LC_TIME=C date`\""; \
-	echo '#endif' ) >buildinf.h
+	$(PERL) $(TOP)/util/mkbuildinf.pl "$(CFLAGS)" "$(PLATFORM)" >buildinf.h
 
 x86cpuid.s:	x86cpuid.pl perlasm/x86asm.pl
 	$(PERL) x86cpuid.pl $(PERLASM_SCHEME) $(CFLAGS) $(PROCESSOR) > $@
diff --git a/crypto/cversion.c b/crypto/cversion.c
index ea9f25fd16..0336adaa57 100644
--- a/crypto/cversion.c
+++ b/crypto/cversion.c
@@ -69,10 +69,7 @@ const char *SSLeay_version(int t)
 	if (t == SSLEAY_BUILT_ON)
 		{
 #ifdef DATE
-		static char buf[sizeof(DATE)+11];
-
-		BIO_snprintf(buf,sizeof buf,"built on: %s",DATE);
-		return(buf);
+		return(DATE);
 #else
 		return("built on: date not available");
 #endif
@@ -80,10 +77,7 @@ const char *SSLeay_version(int t)
 	if (t == SSLEAY_CFLAGS)
 		{
 #ifdef CFLAGS
-		static char buf[sizeof(CFLAGS)+11];
-
-		BIO_snprintf(buf,sizeof buf,"compiler: %s",CFLAGS);
-		return(buf);
+		return(cflags);
 #else
 		return("compiler: information not available");
 #endif
@@ -91,10 +85,7 @@ const char *SSLeay_version(int t)
 	if (t == SSLEAY_PLATFORM)
 		{
 #ifdef PLATFORM
-		static char buf[sizeof(PLATFORM)+11];
-
-		BIO_snprintf(buf,sizeof buf,"platform: %s", PLATFORM);
-		return(buf);
+		return(PLATFORM);
 #else
 		return("platform: information not available");
 #endif
diff --git a/util/mkbuildinf.pl b/util/mkbuildinf.pl
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..ca02d7b0b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/mkbuildinf.pl
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+#!/usr/local/bin/perl
+
+my ($cflags, $platform) = @ARGV;
+
+$cflags = "compiler: $cflags";
+$date = localtime();
+print <<"END_OUTPUT";
+#ifndef MK1MF_BUILD
+    /* auto-generated by util/mkbuildinf.pl for crypto/cversion.c */
+    #define CFLAGS
+    /*
+     * Generate CFLAGS as an array of individual characters. This is a
+     * workaround for the situation where CFLAGS gets too long for a C90 string
+     * literal
+     */
+    static const char cflags[] = {
+END_OUTPUT
+my $ctr = 0;
+foreach my $c (split //, $cflags) {
+    # Max 18 characters per line
+    if  (($ctr++ % 18) == 0) {
+        if ($ctr != 0) {
+            print "\n";
+        }
+        print "        ";
+    }
+    print "'$c',";
+}
+print <<"END_OUTPUT";
+'\\0'
+    };
+    #define PLATFORM "platform: $platform"
+    #define DATE "built on: $date"
+#endif
+END_OUTPUT