diff --git a/scripts/xemu-version.sh b/scripts/xemu-version.sh
index 95ed0cd2a6..0e5b827acc 100755
--- a/scripts/xemu-version.sh
+++ b/scripts/xemu-version.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!/bin/sh
+#!/bin/bash
 
 set -eu
 
@@ -26,6 +26,10 @@ XEMU_VERSION=$( \
     cat XEMU_VERSION; \
   fi)
 
+if [[ "${XEMU_VERSION}" == "" ]]; then
+  XEMU_VERSION="0.0.0"
+fi
+
 get_version_field() {
   echo ${XEMU_VERSION}-0 | cut -d- -f$1
 }