diff --git a/.github/workflows/release_prep.sh b/.github/workflows/release_prep.sh
index 988ae52..04ecb9a 100755
--- a/.github/workflows/release_prep.sh
+++ b/.github/workflows/release_prep.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,12 @@ TAG=${GITHUB_REF_NAME}
 # The prefix is chosen to match what GitHub generates for source archives
 PREFIX="rules_esbuild-${TAG:1}"
 ARCHIVE="rules_esbuild-$TAG.tar.gz"
+
+# Stamp the version into the archive
+echo >>.git/info/attributes <<EOF
+esbuild/private/versions.bzl  export-subst
+EOF
+
 git archive --format=tar --prefix=${PREFIX}/ ${TAG} | gzip > $ARCHIVE
 SHA=$(shasum -a 256 $ARCHIVE | awk '{print $1}')
 
diff --git a/esbuild/private/versions.bzl b/esbuild/private/versions.bzl
index eb31e0a..923b619 100644
--- a/esbuild/private/versions.bzl
+++ b/esbuild/private/versions.bzl
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 """Info for the esbuild packages used"""
 
+RULES_ESBUILD_VERSION = "$Format:%(describe)$"  # Replaced during publishing, see .github/workflows/release_prep.sh
+
 # Use /scripts/mirror_release.sh to add a newer version below.
 # Versions should be ascending order so TOOL_VERSIONS.keys()[-1] is the latest version.
 TOOL_VERSIONS = {