diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 51af78c6..b79b0cd9 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 /usr/share/man/man1/
 /etc/bash_completion.d/
 warewulf.spec
-internal/pkg/buildconfig/buildconfig.go
+internal/pkg/buildconfig/setconfigs.go
 include/systemd/warewulfd.service
 _dist/
 config
diff --git a/internal/pkg/buildconfig/buildconfig.go.in b/internal/pkg/buildconfig/buildconfig.go.in
deleted file mode 100644
index 8df8afd4..00000000
--- a/internal/pkg/buildconfig/buildconfig.go.in
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
-package buildconfig
-
-const (
-    BINDIR         = "@BINDIR@"
-    SYSCONFDIR     = "@SYSCONFDIR@"
-    LOCALSTATEDIR  = "@LOCALSTATEDIR@"
-    SRVDIR         = "@SRVDIR@"
-    TFTPDIR        = "@TFTPDIR@"
-    FIREWALLDDIR   = "@FIREWALLDDIR@"
-    SYSTEMDDIR     = "@SYSTEMDDIR@"
-    WWOVERLAYDIR   = "@WWOVERLAYDIR@"
-    WWCHROOTDIR    = "@WWCHROOTDIR@"
-    WWPROVISIONDIR = "@WWPROVISIONDIR@"
-    VERSION        = "@VERSION@"
-    RELEASE        = "@RELEASE@"
-)
diff --git a/internal/pkg/buildconfig/defaults.go b/internal/pkg/buildconfig/defaults.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cf7a29d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/pkg/buildconfig/defaults.go
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+package buildconfig
+
+var (
+	BINDIR         string = "UNDEF"
+	SYSCONFDIR     string = "UNDEF"
+	LOCALSTATEDIR  string = "UNDEF"
+	SRVDIR         string = "UNDEF"
+	TFTPDIR        string = "UNDEF"
+	FIREWALLDDIR   string = "UNDEF"
+	SYSTEMDDIR     string = "UNDEF"
+	WWOVERLAYDIR   string = "UNDEF"
+	WWCHROOTDIR    string = "UNDEF"
+	WWPROVISIONDIR string = "UNDEF"
+	VERSION        string = "UNDEF"
+	RELEASE        string = "UNDEF"
+)
diff --git a/internal/pkg/buildconfig/setconfigs.go.in b/internal/pkg/buildconfig/setconfigs.go.in
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4fbacd59
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/pkg/buildconfig/setconfigs.go.in
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+package buildconfig
+
+func init() {
+    BINDIR = "@BINDIR@"
+    SYSCONFDIR = "@SYSCONFDIR@"
+    LOCALSTATEDIR = "@LOCALSTATEDIR@"
+    SRVDIR = "@SRVDIR@"
+    TFTPDIR = "@TFTPDIR@"
+    FIREWALLDDIR = "@FIREWALLDDIR@"
+    SYSTEMDDIR = "@SYSTEMDDIR@"
+    WWOVERLAYDIR = "@WWOVERLAYDIR@"
+    WWCHROOTDIR = "@WWCHROOTDIR@"
+    WWPROVISIONDIR = "@WWPROVISIONDIR@"
+    VERSION = "@VERSION@"
+    RELEASE = "@RELEASE@"
+}