diff --git a/cmd/swarm/main.go b/cmd/swarm/main.go
index 722dc4ff5c50..53888b615f96 100644
--- a/cmd/swarm/main.go
+++ b/cmd/swarm/main.go
@@ -66,9 +66,10 @@ OPTIONS:
 {{end}}{{end}}
 `
 
-var (
-	gitCommit string // Git SHA1 commit hash of the release (set via linker flags)
-)
+// Git SHA1 commit hash of the release (set via linker flags)
+// this variable will be assigned if corresponding parameter is passed with install, but not with test
+// e.g.: go install -ldflags "-X main.gitCommit=ed1312d01b19e04ef578946226e5d8069d5dfd5a" ./cmd/swarm
+var gitCommit string
 
 //declare a few constant error messages, useful for later error check comparisons in test
 var (
@@ -89,6 +90,7 @@ var defaultNodeConfig = node.DefaultConfig
 
 // This init function sets defaults so cmd/swarm can run alongside geth.
 func init() {
+	sv.GitCommit = gitCommit
 	defaultNodeConfig.Name = clientIdentifier
 	defaultNodeConfig.Version = sv.VersionWithCommit(gitCommit)
 	defaultNodeConfig.P2P.ListenAddr = ":30399"
diff --git a/swarm/network/kademlia.go b/swarm/network/kademlia.go
index 2c227625168b..9f4245603f01 100644
--- a/swarm/network/kademlia.go
+++ b/swarm/network/kademlia.go
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/log"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/pot"
+	sv "github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/swarm/version"
 )
 
 /*
@@ -552,6 +553,9 @@ func (k *Kademlia) string() string {
 	var rows []string
 
 	rows = append(rows, "=========================================================================")
+	if len(sv.GitCommit) > 0 {
+		rows = append(rows, fmt.Sprintf("commit hash: %s", sv.GitCommit))
+	}
 	rows = append(rows, fmt.Sprintf("%v KΛÐΞMLIΛ hive: queen's address: %x", time.Now().UTC().Format(time.UnixDate), k.BaseAddr()[:3]))
 	rows = append(rows, fmt.Sprintf("population: %d (%d), NeighbourhoodSize: %d, MinBinSize: %d, MaxBinSize: %d", k.conns.Size(), k.addrs.Size(), k.NeighbourhoodSize, k.MinBinSize, k.MaxBinSize))
 
diff --git a/swarm/version/version.go b/swarm/version/version.go
index d5ec31f9f1a0..f3184627b3e1 100644
--- a/swarm/version/version.go
+++ b/swarm/version/version.go
@@ -41,6 +41,9 @@ var VersionWithMeta = func() string {
 	return v
 }()
 
+// Git SHA1 commit hash of the release, will be set by main.init() function
+var GitCommit string
+
 // ArchiveVersion holds the textual version string used for Swarm archives.
 // e.g. "0.3.0-dea1ce05" for stable releases, or
 //      "0.3.1-unstable-21c059b6" for unstable releases