diff --git a/ion/Makefile b/ion/Makefile
index 6ad8d9eb8..6e1b2fea2 100644
--- a/ion/Makefile
+++ b/ion/Makefile
@@ -9,7 +9,12 @@ SFLAGS += -Iion/include -DKD_CONFIG_H=1
 include ion/src/$(PLATFORM)/Makefile
 include ion/src/shared/tools/Makefile
 
-ion/src/shared/software_version.o: SFLAGS += -DPATCH_LEVEL=$(PATCH_LEVEL) -DVERSION=$(VERSION)
+# We need to work around a GCC bug (concerning versions < 5.1). It is valid in
+# C++11 to initialize a character array by providing a string litteral (e.g.
+# char test[4]= "ab"; is valid and should initialize test to 'a','b',0,0).
+# Older versions of GCC are not conformant so we resort to an initializer list.
+initializer_list = $(shell echo $(1) | sed  "s/\(.\)/'\1',/g")0
+ion/src/shared/software_version.o: SFLAGS += -DPATCH_LEVEL="$(call initializer_list,$(PATCH_LEVEL))" -DVERSION="$(call initializer_list,$(VERSION))"
 
 objs += $(addprefix ion/src/shared/, \
   events.o \
diff --git a/ion/src/shared/software_version.cpp b/ion/src/shared/software_version.cpp
index 9ec9030e9..60a6f693d 100644
--- a/ion/src/shared/software_version.cpp
+++ b/ion/src/shared/software_version.cpp
@@ -8,6 +8,10 @@
 #error This file expects PATCH_LEVEL to be defined
 #endif
 
+#ifndef VERSION
+#error This file expects VERSION to be defined
+#endif
+
 #ifndef HEADER_SECTION
 #define HEADER_SECTION
 #endif
@@ -16,8 +20,8 @@ class VersionInfo {
 public:
   constexpr VersionInfo() :
     m_header(Magic),
-    m_version(STR(VERSION)),
-    m_patchLevel(STR(PATCH_LEVEL)),
+    m_version{VERSION},
+    m_patchLevel{PATCH_LEVEL},
     m_footer(Magic) { }
   const char * version() const {
     assert(m_header == Magic);