diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index a5bfb23..4bcbbc0 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ public:
   stage: build
   script:
     - cd src
+    - 'python write_version_data.py'
     - 'python setup.py build'
     - '&$env:NSIS installer.nsi'
     - cd ..
diff --git a/src/write_version_data.py b/src/write_version_data.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ff0742e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/write_version_data.py
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+#! /usr/bin/env python# -*- coding: iso-8859-1 -*-
+""" Write version info (taken from the last commit) to application.py. This method has been implemented this way for running the alpha channel updates.
+This file is not intended to be called by the user. It will be used only by the Gitlab CI runner."""
+import requests
+from codecs import open
+
+print("Writing version data for alpha update...")
+commit_info = requests.get("https://code.manuelcortez.net/api/v4/projects/5/repository/commits/master")
+commit_info = commit_info.json()
+commit = commit_info["short_id"]
+print("Got new version info: {commit}".format(commit=commit,))
+file = open("application.py", "r", encoding="utf-8")
+lines = file.readlines()
+lines[-1] = 'update_next_version = "{commit}"'.format(commit=commit,)
+file.close()
+file2 = open("application.py", "w", encoding="utf-8")
+file2.writelines(lines)
+file2.close()
+print("Wrote application.py with the new version info.")
\ No newline at end of file