diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Constants.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Constants.java
index 9a485a435..4bda035c8 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Constants.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Constants.java
@@ -12,8 +12,5 @@ package org.apache.tools.ant;
  * 
  * @author <a href="mailto:donaldp@apache.org">Peter Donald</a>
  */
-interface Constants
-{
-    String  DATE     = "@DATE@";
-    String  VERSION  = "@VERSION@";
+interface Constants {
 }
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Main.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Main.java
index 5fd2edd7a..43a5007d4 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Main.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/Main.java
@@ -72,9 +72,6 @@ import java.util.*;
 
 public class Main {
 
-    public final static String BANNER              = 
-        "Ant version " + Constants.VERSION + " compiled on " + Constants.DATE;
-
     /** The default build file name */
     public static final String DEFAULT_BUILD_FILENAME = "build.xml";
 
@@ -513,8 +510,27 @@ public class Main {
     }
 
     private static void printVersion() {
-        System.out.println( BANNER );
-        System.out.println();
+        try {
+            Properties props = new Properties();
+            InputStream in =
+                Main.class.getResourceAsStream("/org/apache/tools/ant/version.txt");
+            props.load(in);
+            in.close();
+
+            String lSep = System.getProperty("line.separator");
+            StringBuffer msg = new StringBuffer();
+            msg.append("Ant version ");
+            msg.append(props.getProperty("VERSION"));
+            msg.append(" compiled on ");
+            msg.append(props.getProperty("DATE"));
+            msg.append(lSep);
+            System.out.println(msg.toString());
+        } catch (IOException ioe) {
+            System.err.println("Could not load the version information.");
+            System.err.println(ioe.getMessage());
+        } catch (NullPointerException npe) {
+            System.err.println("Could not load the version information.");
+        }
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/version.txt b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/version.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b6b2f8db9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/version.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+VERSION=@VERSION@
+DATE=@DATE@