diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 86178e05a..7c9c03633 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -17,15 +17,17 @@ endif()
 
 set(PROJECT_VERSION "${PROJECT_VERSION}${VER_STATUS}")
 
-add_definitions(-DVERSION_MAJOR=${VER_MAJOR})
-add_definitions(-DVERSION_MINOR=${VER_MINOR})
-add_definitions(-DVERSION_BUGFIX=${VER_BUGFIX})
-add_definitions(-DVERSION_BUILD=${VER_BUILD})
+add_definitions(-DQBT_VERSION_MAJOR=${VER_MAJOR})
+add_definitions(-DQBT_VERSION_MINOR=${VER_MINOR})
+add_definitions(-DQBT_VERSION_BUGFIX=${VER_BUGFIX})
+add_definitions(-DQBT_VERSION_BUILD=${VER_BUILD})
 
 # os2 {
-#     DEFINES += VERSION=\'\"v$${PROJECT_VERSION}\"\'
+#     DEFINES += DQBT_VERSION=\'\"v$${PROJECT_VERSION}\"\'
+#     DEFINES += DQBT_VERSION_2=\'\"$${PROJECT_VERSION}\"\'
 # } else {
-add_definitions(-DVERSION="v${PROJECT_VERSION}")
+add_definitions(-DQBT_VERSION="v${PROJECT_VERSION}")
+add_definitions(-DQBT_VERSION_2="${PROJECT_VERSION}")
 # }
 
 # set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -Og")
diff --git a/src/app/application.cpp b/src/app/application.cpp
index 2795d654d..8eb2c8f26 100644
--- a/src/app/application.cpp
+++ b/src/app/application.cpp
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ Application::Application(const QString &id, int &argc, char **argv)
     if (isFileLoggerEnabled())
         m_fileLogger = new FileLogger(fileLoggerPath(), isFileLoggerBackup(), fileLoggerMaxSize(), isFileLoggerDeleteOld(), fileLoggerAge(), static_cast<FileLogger::FileLogAgeType>(fileLoggerAgeType()));
 
-    Logger::instance()->addMessage(tr("qBittorrent %1 started", "qBittorrent v3.2.0alpha started").arg(VERSION));
+    Logger::instance()->addMessage(tr("qBittorrent %1 started", "qBittorrent v3.2.0alpha started").arg(QBT_VERSION));
 }
 
 #ifndef DISABLE_GUI
diff --git a/src/app/main.cpp b/src/app/main.cpp
index d1cd65a9e..cd6b00c3a 100644
--- a/src/app/main.cpp
+++ b/src/app/main.cpp
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     }
 
     // Set environment variable
-    if (!qputenv("QBITTORRENT", QByteArray(VERSION)))
+    if (!qputenv("QBITTORRENT", QBT_VERSION))
         std::cerr << "Couldn't set environment variable...\n";
 
 #ifndef DISABLE_GUI
@@ -359,7 +359,7 @@ void sigAbnormalHandler(int signum)
     const char str1[] = "\n\n*************************************************************\nCatching signal: ";
     const char *sigName = sysSigName[signum];
     const char str2[] = "\nPlease file a bug report at http://bug.qbittorrent.org and provide the following information:\n\n"
-    "qBittorrent version: " VERSION "\n";
+    "qBittorrent version: " QBT_VERSION "\n";
     write(STDERR_FILENO, str1, strlen(str1));
     write(STDERR_FILENO, sigName, strlen(sigName));
     write(STDERR_FILENO, str2, strlen(str2));
@@ -380,7 +380,7 @@ void showSplashScreen()
 {
     QPixmap splash_img(":/icons/skin/splash.png");
     QPainter painter(&splash_img);
-    QString version = VERSION;
+    QString version = QBT_VERSION;
     painter.setPen(QPen(Qt::white));
     painter.setFont(QFont("Arial", 22, QFont::Black));
     painter.drawText(224 - painter.fontMetrics().width(version), 270, version);
@@ -393,7 +393,7 @@ void showSplashScreen()
 
 void displayVersion()
 {
-    std::cout << qPrintable(qApp->applicationName()) << " " << VERSION << std::endl;
+    std::cout << qPrintable(qApp->applicationName()) << " " << QBT_VERSION << std::endl;
 }
 
 QString makeUsage(const QString &prg_name)
diff --git a/src/app/stacktrace_win_dlg.h b/src/app/stacktrace_win_dlg.h
index 6c50b4776..62d8da7fc 100644
--- a/src/app/stacktrace_win_dlg.h
+++ b/src/app/stacktrace_win_dlg.h
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ public:
             "</p></font>"
             "<br/><hr><br/>"
             "<p align=center><font size=4>"
-            "qBittorrent version: " VERSION "<br/>"
+            "qBittorrent version: " QBT_VERSION "<br/>"
             "Libtorrent version: %1<br/>"
             "Qt version: " QT_VERSION_STR "<br/>"
             "Boost version: %2<br/>"
diff --git a/src/base/bittorrent/session.cpp b/src/base/bittorrent/session.cpp
index 2d2b41fb9..39389d1f1 100644
--- a/src/base/bittorrent/session.cpp
+++ b/src/base/bittorrent/session.cpp
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@
 
 static const char PEER_ID[] = "qB";
 static const char RESUME_FOLDER[] = "BT_backup";
-static const char USER_AGENT[] = "qBittorrent " VERSION;
+static const char USER_AGENT[] = "qBittorrent/" QBT_VERSION;  // to pass trackers whitelists, using the "v" prefixed version string
 
 namespace libt = libtorrent;
 using namespace BitTorrent;
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ Session::Session(QObject *parent)
                     ;
 
 #if LIBTORRENT_VERSION_NUM < 10100
-    libt::fingerprint fingerprint(PEER_ID, VERSION_MAJOR, VERSION_MINOR, VERSION_BUGFIX, VERSION_BUILD);
+    libt::fingerprint fingerprint(PEER_ID, QBT_VERSION_MAJOR, QBT_VERSION_MINOR, QBT_VERSION_BUGFIX, QBT_VERSION_BUILD);
     std::string peerId = fingerprint.to_string();
     const ushort port = this->port();
     std::pair<int, int> ports(port, port);
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@ Session::Session(QObject *parent)
         dispatchAlerts(alertPtr.release());
     });
 #else
-    std::string peerId = libt::generate_fingerprint(PEER_ID, VERSION_MAJOR, VERSION_MINOR, VERSION_BUGFIX, VERSION_BUILD);
+    std::string peerId = libt::generate_fingerprint(PEER_ID, QBT_VERSION_MAJOR, QBT_VERSION_MINOR, QBT_VERSION_BUGFIX, QBT_VERSION_BUILD);
     libt::settings_pack pack;
     pack.set_int(libt::settings_pack::alert_mask, alertMask);
     pack.set_str(libt::settings_pack::peer_fingerprint, peerId);
diff --git a/src/base/bittorrent/torrentcreatorthread.cpp b/src/base/bittorrent/torrentcreatorthread.cpp
index 1d9e35660..e4809994d 100644
--- a/src/base/bittorrent/torrentcreatorthread.cpp
+++ b/src/base/bittorrent/torrentcreatorthread.cpp
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ void TorrentCreatorThread::run()
 {
     emit updateProgress(0);
 
-    QString creator_str("qBittorrent " VERSION);
+    QString creator_str("qBittorrent " QBT_VERSION);
     try {
         libt::file_storage fs;
         // Adding files to the torrent
diff --git a/src/base/net/dnsupdater.cpp b/src/base/net/dnsupdater.cpp
index c437ce782..2a57e1e99 100644
--- a/src/base/net/dnsupdater.cpp
+++ b/src/base/net/dnsupdater.cpp
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ void DNSUpdater::checkPublicIP()
 
     DownloadHandler *handler = DownloadManager::instance()->downloadUrl(
                 "http://checkip.dyndns.org", false, 0, false,
-                QString("qBittorrent/%1").arg(VERSION));
+                "qBittorrent/" QBT_VERSION_2);
     connect(handler, SIGNAL(downloadFinished(QString, QByteArray)), SLOT(ipRequestFinished(QString, QByteArray)));
     connect(handler, SIGNAL(downloadFailed(QString, QString)), SLOT(ipRequestFailed(QString, QString)));
 
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ void DNSUpdater::updateDNSService()
     m_lastIPCheckTime = QDateTime::currentDateTime();
     DownloadHandler *handler = DownloadManager::instance()->downloadUrl(
                 getUpdateUrl(), false, 0, false,
-                QString("qBittorrent/%1").arg(VERSION));
+                "qBittorrent/" QBT_VERSION_2);
     connect(handler, SIGNAL(downloadFinished(QString, QByteArray)), SLOT(ipUpdateFinished(QString, QByteArray)));
     connect(handler, SIGNAL(downloadFailed(QString, QString)), SLOT(ipUpdateFailed(QString, QString)));
 }
diff --git a/src/gui/about_imp.h b/src/gui/about_imp.h
index fac31ea3a..310aa72bb 100644
--- a/src/gui/about_imp.h
+++ b/src/gui/about_imp.h
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ public:
         setAttribute(Qt::WA_DeleteOnClose);
 
         // Title
-        lb_name->setText("<b><h2>qBittorrent " VERSION "</h2></b>");
+        lb_name->setText("<b><h2>qBittorrent " QBT_VERSION "</h2></b>");
 
         // About
         QString aboutText = QString(
diff --git a/src/gui/mainwindow.cpp b/src/gui/mainwindow.cpp
index 0b873443d..199022cf0 100644
--- a/src/gui/mainwindow.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/mainwindow.cpp
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ MainWindow::MainWindow(QWidget *parent)
 
     Preferences *const pref = Preferences::instance();
     m_uiLocked = pref->isUILocked();
-    setWindowTitle("qBittorrent " VERSION);
+    setWindowTitle("qBittorrent " QBT_VERSION);
     m_displaySpeedInTitle = pref->speedInTitleBar();
     // Setting icons
 #if (defined(Q_OS_UNIX) && !defined(Q_OS_MAC))
@@ -1332,7 +1332,7 @@ void MainWindow::updateGUI()
         setWindowTitle(tr("[D: %1, U: %2] qBittorrent %3", "D = Download; U = Upload; %3 is qBittorrent version")
                        .arg(Utils::Misc::friendlyUnit(status.payloadDownloadRate(), true))
                        .arg(Utils::Misc::friendlyUnit(status.payloadUploadRate(), true))
-                       .arg(VERSION));
+                       .arg(QBT_VERSION));
     }
 }
 
@@ -1495,7 +1495,7 @@ void MainWindow::on_actionSpeedInTitleBar_triggered()
     if (m_displaySpeedInTitle)
         updateGUI();
     else
-        setWindowTitle("qBittorrent " VERSION);
+        setWindowTitle("qBittorrent " QBT_VERSION);
 }
 
 void MainWindow::on_actionRSSReader_triggered()
diff --git a/src/gui/programupdater.cpp b/src/gui/programupdater.cpp
index bec098e08..e4ce2597e 100644
--- a/src/gui/programupdater.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/programupdater.cpp
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ void ProgramUpdater::checkForUpdates()
                 RSS_URL, false, 0, false,
                 // Don't change this User-Agent. In case our updater goes haywire,
                 // the filehost can identify it and contact us.
-                QString("qBittorrent/%1 ProgramUpdater (www.qbittorrent.org)").arg(VERSION));
+                "qBittorrent/" QBT_VERSION_2 " ProgramUpdater (www.qbittorrent.org)");
     connect(handler, SIGNAL(downloadFinished(QString,QByteArray)), SLOT(rssDownloadFinished(QString,QByteArray)));
     connect(handler, SIGNAL(downloadFailed(QString,QString)), SLOT(rssDownloadFailed(QString,QString)));
 }
@@ -137,9 +137,9 @@ void ProgramUpdater::updateProgram()
 bool ProgramUpdater::isVersionMoreRecent(const QString &remoteVersion) const
 {
     QRegExp regVer("([0-9.]+)");
-    if (regVer.indexIn(QString(VERSION)) >= 0) {
+    if (regVer.indexIn(QBT_VERSION) >= 0) {
         QString localVersion = regVer.cap(1);
-        qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << "local version:" << localVersion << "/" << VERSION;
+        qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << "local version:" << localVersion << "/" << QBT_VERSION;
         QStringList remoteParts = remoteVersion.split('.');
         QStringList localParts = localVersion.split('.');
         for (int i = 0; i<qMin(remoteParts.size(), localParts.size()); ++i) {
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ bool ProgramUpdater::isVersionMoreRecent(const QString &remoteVersion) const
             return true;
         // versions are equal, check if the local version is a development release, in which case it is older (2.9.2beta < 2.9.2)
         QRegExp regDevel("(alpha|beta|rc)");
-        if (regDevel.indexIn(VERSION) >= 0)
+        if (regDevel.indexIn(QBT_VERSION) >= 0)
             return true;
     }
     return false;
diff --git a/src/qbittorrent.rc b/src/qbittorrent.rc
index 65e480bf7..bfd49e897 100644
Binary files a/src/qbittorrent.rc and b/src/qbittorrent.rc differ
diff --git a/src/webui/abstractwebapplication.cpp b/src/webui/abstractwebapplication.cpp
index 9c4d8c090..c15599466 100644
--- a/src/webui/abstractwebapplication.cpp
+++ b/src/webui/abstractwebapplication.cpp
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ bool AbstractWebApplication::readFile(const QString& path, QByteArray &data, QSt
             translateDocument(dataStr);
 
             if (path.endsWith("about.html") || path.endsWith("index.html") || path.endsWith("client.js"))
-                dataStr.replace("${VERSION}", VERSION);
+                dataStr.replace("${VERSION}", QBT_VERSION);
 
             data = dataStr.toUtf8();
             translatedFiles_[path] = data; // cashing translated file
diff --git a/src/webui/webapplication.cpp b/src/webui/webapplication.cpp
index 2598f6dd2..684c44da5 100644
--- a/src/webui/webapplication.cpp
+++ b/src/webui/webapplication.cpp
@@ -348,7 +348,7 @@ void WebApplication::action_version_api_min()
 void WebApplication::action_version_qbittorrent()
 {
     CHECK_URI(0);
-    print(QString(VERSION), Http::CONTENT_TYPE_TXT);
+    print(QString(QBT_VERSION), Http::CONTENT_TYPE_TXT);
 }
 
 void WebApplication::action_command_shutdown()
diff --git a/version.pri b/version.pri
index d81fa0a96..12a87605f 100644
--- a/version.pri
+++ b/version.pri
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# keep it all lowercase to match program naming convention on *nix systems
 PROJECT_NAME = qbittorrent
 
 # Define version numbers here
@@ -16,14 +17,16 @@ PROJECT_VERSION = $${VER_MAJOR}.$${VER_MINOR}.$${VER_BUGFIX}
 
 PROJECT_VERSION = $${PROJECT_VERSION}$${VER_STATUS}
 
-DEFINES += VERSION_MAJOR=$${VER_MAJOR}
-DEFINES += VERSION_MINOR=$${VER_MINOR}
-DEFINES += VERSION_BUGFIX=$${VER_BUGFIX}
-DEFINES += VERSION_BUILD=$${VER_BUILD}
+DEFINES += QBT_VERSION_MAJOR=$${VER_MAJOR}
+DEFINES += QBT_VERSION_MINOR=$${VER_MINOR}
+DEFINES += QBT_VERSION_BUGFIX=$${VER_BUGFIX}
+DEFINES += QBT_VERSION_BUILD=$${VER_BUILD}
 
 os2 {
-    DEFINES += VERSION=\'\"v$${PROJECT_VERSION}\"\'
-} else {
-    DEFINES += VERSION=\\\"v$${PROJECT_VERSION}\\\"
+    DEFINES += QBT_VERSION=\'\"v$${PROJECT_VERSION}\"\'
+    DEFINES += QBT_VERSION_2=\'\"$${PROJECT_VERSION}\"\'
+}
+else {
+    DEFINES += QBT_VERSION=\\\"v$${PROJECT_VERSION}\\\"
+    DEFINES += QBT_VERSION_2=\\\"$${PROJECT_VERSION}\\\"
 }
-