diff --git a/public/build.c b/public/build.c
index 445416d1..237fd0ee 100644
--- a/public/build.c
+++ b/public/build.c
@@ -239,6 +239,3 @@ const char *Q_buildarch( void )
 	);
 }
 
-const char *g_buildcommit = XASH_BUILD_COMMIT;
-const char *g_buildbranch = XASH_BUILD_BRANCH;
-
diff --git a/public/build_vcs.c b/public/build_vcs.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..89a55d8e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/public/build_vcs.c
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+/*
+build_vcs.c - info from VCS
+Copyright (C) 2025 Alibek Omarov
+
+This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+(at your option) any later version.
+
+This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+GNU General Public License for more details.
+*/
+
+const char *g_buildcommit = XASH_BUILD_COMMIT;
+const char *g_buildbranch = XASH_BUILD_BRANCH;
+
diff --git a/public/wscript b/public/wscript
index f453f34b..3cfac7a9 100644
--- a/public/wscript
+++ b/public/wscript
@@ -118,10 +118,14 @@ def build(bld):
 		export_includes = '. ../common ../pm_shared ../engine',
 		export_defines = bld.env.EXPORT_DEFINES_LIST)
 
-	bld.stlib(source   = bld.path.ant_glob('*.c'),
-		target   = 'public',
-		use      = 'sdk_includes werror',
-		defines  = ['XASH_BUILD_COMMIT=\"%s\"' % bld.env.GIT_VERSION, 'XASH_BUILD_BRANCH=\"%s\"' % bld.env.GIT_BRANCH])
+	# build it separately to slightly improve rebuild times
+	bld.stlib(source = 'build_vcs.c',
+		target = 'build_vcs',
+		defines = ['XASH_BUILD_COMMIT=\"%s\"' % bld.env.GIT_VERSION, 'XASH_BUILD_BRANCH=\"%s\"' % bld.env.GIT_BRANCH])
+
+	bld.stlib(source = bld.path.ant_glob('*.c', excl='build_vcs.c'),
+		target = 'public',
+		use = 'sdk_includes werror build_vcs')
 
 	if bld.env.TESTS:
 		if bld.env.VALIDATE_TARGET: