diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index abd40f0579..91e663fab0 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -580,6 +580,10 @@ string(REGEX REPLACE "[^a-zA-Z0-9_\$]" "_" VERSION_C_IDENT "${VERSION_C_IDENT}")
 
 set(ZEEK_VERSION_FULL_LOCAL "${ZEEK_VERSION_FULL}")
 if (NOT ZEEK_VERSION_LOCAL STREQUAL "")
+#    STRING(FIND ZEEK_VERSION_LOCAL "-" POS)
+    if (ZEEK_VERSION_LOCAL MATCHES "-")
+        message(FATAL_ERROR "ZEEK_VERSION_LOCAL can not contain dashes: ${ZEEK_VERSION_LOCAL}")
+    endif ()
     set(ZEEK_VERSION_FULL_LOCAL "${ZEEK_VERSION_FULL_LOCAL}-${ZEEK_VERSION_LOCAL}")
     set(VERSION_C_IDENT "${VERSION_C_IDENT}_${ZEEK_VERSION_LOCAL}")
 endif ()