diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-assets.yml b/.github/workflows/release-assets.yml
index 89e2883b..2402d318 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release-assets.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-assets.yml
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           echo "::set-output name=tarball::$(ls *.tar.gz)"
           echo "::set-output name=zip::$(ls *.zip)"
-          echo "::set-output name=suffix_unix::$(sed 's|^\([0-9]\{1,\}\.[0-9]\{1,\}\.[0-9]\{1,\}\)\.\(.*\)$|\1|' dist/VERSION)"
-          echo "::set-output name=suffix_dos::$(sed 's|^\([0-9]\{1,\}\.[0-9]\{1,\}\.[0-9]\{1,\}\)\.\(.*\)$|\1|' dist/VERSION | tr . _)"
+          echo "::set-output name=suffix_unix::$(sed 's|^\([0-9]\{1,\}\.[0-9]\{1,\}\.[0-9]\{1,\}\)\.\(.*\)$|\1|' dist/VERSION.txt)"
+          echo "::set-output name=suffix_dos::$(sed 's|^\([0-9]\{1,\}\.[0-9]\{1,\}\.[0-9]\{1,\}\)\.\(.*\)$|\1|' dist/VERSION.txt | tr . _)"
       - name: Create Release
         id: create_release
         uses: actions/create-release@v1
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index a36c0ba8..0aad9f88 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ if(EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/.git" AND
     message(SEND_ERROR "Git command-line tool not found")
   endif()
   set(MDBX_SOURCE_DIR "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/src")
-elseif(EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/VERSION" AND
+elseif(EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/VERSION.txt" AND
     EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/mdbx.c" AND
     EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/mdbx.c++" AND
     EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/config.h.in" AND
diff --git a/ChangeLog.md b/ChangeLog.md
index 76a14165..89484d1b 100644
--- a/ChangeLog.md
+++ b/ChangeLog.md
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@ New features:
 
  - [Allow to predefine/override `MDBX_BUILD_TIMESTAMP` for builds reproducibility](https://github.com/erthink/libmdbx/issues/201).
 
+Backward compatibility break:
+
+ - Use file `VERSION.txt` for version information instead of `VERSION` to avoid collision with `#include <version>`.
+
 Fixes:
 
  - Fixed excess meta-pages checks in case `mdbx_chk` is called to check the DB for a specific meta page and thus could prevent switching to the selected meta page, even if the check passed without errors.
diff --git a/GNUmakefile b/GNUmakefile
index ca4ec5f1..573a0ebd 100644
--- a/GNUmakefile
+++ b/GNUmakefile
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ define uname2titer
   esac
 endef
 
-DIST_EXTRA := LICENSE README.md CMakeLists.txt GNUmakefile Makefile ChangeLog.md VERSION config.h.in ntdll.def \
+DIST_EXTRA := LICENSE README.md CMakeLists.txt GNUmakefile Makefile ChangeLog.md VERSION.txt config.h.in ntdll.def \
 	$(addprefix man1/, $(MANPAGES)) cmake/compiler.cmake cmake/profile.cmake cmake/utils.cmake
 DIST_SRC   := mdbx.h mdbx.h++ mdbx.c mdbx.c++ $(addsuffix .c, $(TOOLS))
 
@@ -532,9 +532,9 @@ dist/$(1): $(1)
 	$(QUIET)mkdir -p $$(dir $$@) && sed -e '/^#> dist-cutoff-begin/,/^#< dist-cutoff-end/d' $$< > $$@
 
 endef
-$(foreach file,$(filter-out man1/% VERSION %.in ntdll.def,$(DIST_EXTRA)),$(eval $(call dist-extra-rule,$(file))))
+$(foreach file,$(filter-out man1/% VERSION.txt %.in ntdll.def,$(DIST_EXTRA)),$(eval $(call dist-extra-rule,$(file))))
 
-dist/VERSION: src/version.c
+dist/VERSION.txt: src/version.c
 	@echo '  MAKE $@'
 	$(QUIET)mkdir -p dist/ && echo "$(MDBX_GIT_VERSION).$(MDBX_GIT_REVISION)" > $@
 
diff --git a/cmake/utils.cmake b/cmake/utils.cmake
index daf4b39d..fcfcb5b6 100644
--- a/cmake/utils.cmake
+++ b/cmake/utils.cmake
@@ -173,7 +173,10 @@ macro(fetch_version name source_root_directory parent_scope)
     set(${name}_GIT_REVISION 0)
 
     # Try to get version from VERSION file
-    set(version_file "${source_root_directory}/VERSION")
+    set(version_file "${source_root_directory}/VERSION.txt")
+    if(NOT EXISTS "${version_file}")
+      set(version_file "${source_root_directory}/VERSION")
+    endif()
     if(EXISTS "${version_file}")
       file(STRINGS "${version_file}" ${name}_VERSION LIMIT_COUNT 1 LIMIT_INPUT 42)
     endif()