diff --git a/packaging/generate_snapshot_version.sh b/packaging/generate_snapshot_version.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1c7b3721bf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packaging/generate_snapshot_version.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# See https://reproducible-builds.org/specs/source-date-epoch/
+# get SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH with UNIX time_t
+if [ -d ".git" ];
+then
+  SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH=$(git log -1 --pretty=%ct)
+else
+  echo "Error: intended for use from within a git repository"
+  exit 1
+fi
+MRPT_SNAPSHOT_VERSION=$(date -d @$SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH +%Y%m%d-%H%M)
+
+MRPT_SNAPSHOT_VERSION+="-git-"
+MRPT_SNAPSHOT_VERSION+=`git rev-parse --short=8 HEAD`
diff --git a/packaging/make_release.sh b/packaging/make_release.sh
index 4d8dfa3344..f2d1983e57 100755
--- a/packaging/make_release.sh
+++ b/packaging/make_release.sh
@@ -11,6 +11,21 @@
 
 set -e  # exit on error
 
+APPEND_SNAPSHOT_NUM=0
+
+while getopts "s" OPTION
+do
+     case $OPTION in
+         s)
+             APPEND_SNAPSHOT_NUM=1
+             ;;
+         ?)
+             echo "Unknown command line argument!"
+             exit 1
+             ;;
+     esac
+done
+
 # Sets the bash variables:
 # MRPT_VERSION_STR, MRPT_VER_MMP, MRPT_VERSION_{MAJOR,MINOR,PATCH}
 # --------------------------------
@@ -27,6 +42,15 @@ else
 	exit 1
 fi
 
+if [ $APPEND_SNAPSHOT_NUM == "1" ];
+then
+	# Get snapshot version number:
+	CUR_SCRIPT_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" && pwd )"
+	source $CUR_SCRIPT_DIR/generate_snapshot_version.sh # populate MRPT_SNAPSHOT_VERSION
+	
+	MRPT_VERSION_STR="${MRPT_VERSION_STR}~${MRPT_SNAPSHOT_VERSION}"
+fi
+
 MRPTSRC=$(pwd)
 OUT_RELEASES_DIR="$HOME/mrpt_release"
 
@@ -82,7 +106,6 @@ for guide in $LST_GUIDES; do
 done
 
 # Orig tarball:
-
 echo "> Creating source tarball: mrpt-${MRPT_VERSION_STR}.tar.gz"
 (cd "${OUT_RELEASES_DIR}" ; tar czf "mrpt-${MRPT_VERSION_STR}.tar.gz" "mrpt-${MRPT_VERSION_STR}" )