diff --git a/dtool/pptempl/Global.gmsvc.pp b/dtool/pptempl/Global.gmsvc.pp
index df28f15422..2fc3429f4c 100644
--- a/dtool/pptempl/Global.gmsvc.pp
+++ b/dtool/pptempl/Global.gmsvc.pp
@@ -178,6 +178,9 @@
 #defer DLLNAMEBASE lib$[TARGET]$[dllext]
 #defer DLLBASEADDRFILENAME dllbase.txt
 #defer DLLBASEARG "/BASE:@$[dtool_ver_dir]\$[DLLBASEADDRFILENAME],$[DLLNAMEBASE]"
+#else
+// requires dtool envvar
+#define GENERATE_BUILDDATE
 #endif
 
 //#defer ver_resource $[directory]\ver.res
diff --git a/dtool/pptempl/Global.msvc.pp b/dtool/pptempl/Global.msvc.pp
index 2246a042d6..e94ec408df 100644
--- a/dtool/pptempl/Global.msvc.pp
+++ b/dtool/pptempl/Global.msvc.pp
@@ -147,18 +147,22 @@
 #defer STATIC_LIB_C $[LIBBER] /nologo $[sources] /OUT:"$[osfilename $[target]]" 
 #defer STATIC_LIB_C++ $[STATIC_LIB_C]
 
-#if $[GENERATE_BUILDDATE]
-#defer ver_resource "$[directory]\ver.res"
-#else
-#define ver_resource
-#endif
-
 // if we're attached, use dllbase.txt.  otherwise let OS loader resolve dll addrspace collisions
 #if $[ne $[DTOOL_INSTALL],]
 // use predefined bases to speed dll loading and simplify debugging
 #defer DLLNAMEBASE lib$[TARGET]$[dllext]
 #defer DLLBASEADDRFILENAME dllbase.txt
 #defer DLLBASEARG "/BASE:@$[dtool_ver_dir]\$[DLLBASEADDRFILENAME],$[DLLNAMEBASE]"
+
+#if $[GENERATE_BUILDDATE]
+#defer ver_resource "$[directory]\ver.res"
+#else
+#define ver_resource
+#endif
+
+#else
+// cant get builddate without dtool envvar
+#define GENERATE_BUILDDATE
 #endif
 
 #defer SHARED_LIB_C $[LINKER] /nologo /dll $[LDFLAGS_OPT$[OPTIMIZE]] $[DLLBASEARG] $[sources] $[ver_resource] $[decygwin %,/LIBPATH:"%",$[lpath] $[EXTRA_LIBPATH]] $[patsubst %.lib,%.lib,%,lib%.lib,$[libs]] /OUT:"$[osfilename $[target]]"