diff --git a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
index 67e2e1f327..afa3f2a12e 100644
--- a/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/cmake/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ if(CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_LESS 3.20)
   message(WARNING "LAMMPS is planning to require at least CMake version 3.20 by Summer 2025. Please upgrade!")
 endif()
 ########################################
+# initialize version variables with project command
+if(POLICY CMP0048)
+  cmake_policy(SET CMP0048 NEW)
+endif()
 # set policy to silence warnings about ignoring <PackageName>_ROOT but use it
 if(POLICY CMP0074)
   cmake_policy(SET CMP0074 NEW)
@@ -27,7 +31,10 @@ endif()
 
 ########################################
 
-project(lammps CXX)
+project(lammps
+        DESCRIPTION "The LAMMPS Molecular Dynamics Simulator"
+        HOMEPAGE_URL "https://www.lammps.org"
+        LANGUAGES CXX C)
 set(SOVERSION 0)
 get_property(BUILD_IS_MULTI_CONFIG GLOBAL PROPERTY GENERATOR_IS_MULTI_CONFIG)
 
diff --git a/cmake/Modules/LAMMPSUtils.cmake b/cmake/Modules/LAMMPSUtils.cmake
index 4675788647..93f541f921 100644
--- a/cmake/Modules/LAMMPSUtils.cmake
+++ b/cmake/Modules/LAMMPSUtils.cmake
@@ -75,13 +75,25 @@ function(get_lammps_version version_header variable)
     list(FIND MONTHS "${month}" month)
     string(LENGTH ${day} day_length)
     string(LENGTH ${month} month_length)
-    if(day_length EQUAL 1)
-        set(day "0${day}")
+    # no leading zero needed for new version string with dots
+    # if(day_length EQUAL 1)
+    #   set(day "0${day}")
+    # endif()
+    # if(month_length EQUAL 1)
+    #   set(month "0${month}")
+    #endif()
+    file(STRINGS ${version_header} line REGEX LAMMPS_UPDATE)
+    string(REGEX REPLACE "#define LAMMPS_UPDATE \"Update ([0-9]+)\"" "\\1" tweak "${line}")
+    if (line MATCHES "#define LAMMPS_UPDATE \"(Maintenance|Development)\"")
+      set(tweak "99")
     endif()
-    if(month_length EQUAL 1)
-        set(month "0${month}")
+    if(NOT tweak)
+      set(tweak "0")
     endif()
-    set(${variable} "${year}${month}${day}" PARENT_SCOPE)
+    # new version string with dots
+    set(${variable} "${year}.${month}.${day}.${tweak}" PARENT_SCOPE)
+    # old version string without dots
+    # set(${variable} "${year}${month}${day}" PARENT_SCOPE)
 endfunction()
 
 function(check_for_autogen_files source_dir)