diff --git a/connector/pom.xml b/connector/pom.xml
index 67da952..657751e 100644
--- a/connector/pom.xml
+++ b/connector/pom.xml
@@ -116,6 +116,30 @@
                     </execution>
                 </executions>
             </plugin>
+            <plugin>
+                <groupId>pl.project13.maven</groupId>
+                <artifactId>git-commit-id-plugin</artifactId>
+                <version>4.9.10</version>
+                <executions>
+                    <execution>
+                        <id>get-the-git-infos</id>
+                        <goals>
+                            <goal>revision</goal>
+                        </goals>
+                    </execution>
+                </executions>
+                <configuration>
+                    <dotGitDirectory>${project.basedir}/.git</dotGitDirectory>
+                    <prefix>git</prefix>
+                    <generateGitPropertiesFile>true</generateGitPropertiesFile>
+                    <generateGitPropertiesFilename>${project.build.outputDirectory}/questdb_connector_version.properties</generateGitPropertiesFilename>
+                    <gitDescribe>
+                        <skip>false</skip>
+                        <always>false</always>
+                        <dirty>-dirty</dirty>
+                    </gitDescribe>
+                </configuration>
+            </plugin>
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>io.confluent</groupId>
                 <version>0.12.0</version>
diff --git a/connector/src/main/java/io/questdb/kafka/QuestDBSinkTask.java b/connector/src/main/java/io/questdb/kafka/QuestDBSinkTask.java
index 8695c4f..d8c51ae 100644
--- a/connector/src/main/java/io/questdb/kafka/QuestDBSinkTask.java
+++ b/connector/src/main/java/io/questdb/kafka/QuestDBSinkTask.java
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ public String version() {
 
     @Override
     public void start(Map<String, String> map) {
+        log.info("Starting QuestDB sink task [version={}, commit={}]", VersionUtil.getVersion(), VersionUtil.getGitHash());
         this.config = new QuestDBSinkConnectorConfig(map);
         String timestampStringFields = config.getTimestampStringFields();
         if (timestampStringFields != null) {
diff --git a/connector/src/main/java/io/questdb/kafka/VersionUtil.java b/connector/src/main/java/io/questdb/kafka/VersionUtil.java
index 56ed5f3..2f5ea30 100644
--- a/connector/src/main/java/io/questdb/kafka/VersionUtil.java
+++ b/connector/src/main/java/io/questdb/kafka/VersionUtil.java
@@ -1,11 +1,41 @@
 package io.questdb.kafka;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.util.Properties;
+
 final class VersionUtil {
-    static String getVersion() {
-        try {
-            return VersionUtil.class.getPackage().getImplementationVersion();
-        } catch (Exception ex) {
-            return "0.0.0.0";
+    private static final String VERSION;
+    private static final String GIT_HASH;
+    private static final String UNKNOWN = "unknown";
+    private static final String PROPERTIES_FILE = "questdb_connector_version.properties"; // keep in sync with pom.xml
+
+    static {
+        Properties properties = new Properties();
+        String version;
+        String gitHash;
+        try (InputStream is = VersionUtil.class.getClassLoader().getResourceAsStream(PROPERTIES_FILE)){
+            if (is == null) {
+                version = UNKNOWN;
+                gitHash = UNKNOWN;
+            } else {
+                properties.load(is);
+                version = String.valueOf(properties.getOrDefault("git.build.version", UNKNOWN));
+                gitHash = String.valueOf(properties.getOrDefault("git.commit.id.abbrev", UNKNOWN));
+            }
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            version = UNKNOWN;
+            gitHash = UNKNOWN;
         }
+        VERSION = version;
+        GIT_HASH = gitHash;
+    }
+
+    static String getVersion() {
+        return VERSION;
+    }
+
+    static String getGitHash() {
+        return GIT_HASH;
     }
 }
diff --git a/connector/src/test/java/io/questdb/kafka/VersionUtilTest.java b/connector/src/test/java/io/questdb/kafka/VersionUtilTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4bbde8e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/connector/src/test/java/io/questdb/kafka/VersionUtilTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+package io.questdb.kafka;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.*;
+
+class VersionUtilTest {
+    // if these tests are failing then build the project with maven
+    // maven build generates the questdb_connector_version.properties file
+
+    @Test
+    public void testGetVersion() {
+        String version = VersionUtil.getVersion();
+        assertNotNull(version);
+        assertNotEquals("unknown", version);
+        assertFalse(version.isEmpty());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testGetGitHash() {
+        String gitHash = VersionUtil.getGitHash();
+        assertNotNull(gitHash);
+        assertNotEquals("unknown", gitHash);
+        assertFalse(gitHash.isEmpty());
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file