diff --git a/board/recalbox/recalbox-patch-target.sh b/board/recalbox/recalbox-patch-target.sh
index 19b114f3bd0a4283c44da0ab058a81626cab34a8..92521c4e8945a4ae6efa2aa1b94a74ad231e84c8 100755
--- a/board/recalbox/recalbox-patch-target.sh
+++ b/board/recalbox/recalbox-patch-target.sh
@@ -72,6 +72,9 @@ rm -f "${TARGET_DIR}/etc/shadow"                         || exit 1
 ln -sf "/run/recalbox.shadow" "${TARGET_DIR}/etc/shadow" || exit 1
 
 # Add the date while the version can be nightly or unstable
+if [ ! -f "${TARGET_DIR}/recalbox/recalbox.version" ]; then
+	echo "development" > "${TARGET_DIR}/recalbox/recalbox.version"
+fi
 RVERSION=$(cat "${TARGET_DIR}/recalbox/recalbox.version")
 
 # bootsplash