diff --git a/configure/CONFIG_BASE b/configure/CONFIG_BASE
index 365042775..1b1b9f14f 100644
--- a/configure/CONFIG_BASE
+++ b/configure/CONFIG_BASE
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ REGISTERRECORDDEVICEDRIVER = $(PERL) $(TOOLS)/registerRecordDeviceDriver.pl
 CONVERTRELEASE             = $(PERL) $(call FIND_TOOL,convertRelease.pl)
 FULLPATHNAME               = $(PERL) $(TOOLS)/fullPathName.pl
 TAPTOJUNIT                 = $(PERL) $(TOOLS)/tap-to-junit-xml.pl
-GENVERSIONHEADER           = $(PERL) $(TOOLS)/genVersionHeader.pl $(QUIET_FLAG)
+GENVERSIONHEADER           = $(PERL) $(TOOLS)/genVersionHeader.pl $(QUIET_FLAG) $(QUESTION_FLAG)
 
 #---------------------------------------------------------------
 # tools for installing libraries and products
diff --git a/configure/CONFIG_COMMON b/configure/CONFIG_COMMON
index 79807c2f2..18e5a2cec 100644
--- a/configure/CONFIG_COMMON
+++ b/configure/CONFIG_COMMON
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ IOCS_APPL_TOP               = $(shell $(FULLPATHNAME) $(INSTALL_LOCATION))
 NOP = :
 ECHO = @$(if $(findstring s,$(patsubst T_A=%,,$(MAKEFLAGS))),$(NOP),echo)
 QUIET_FLAG := $(if $(findstring s,$(MAKEFLAGS)),-q,)
+QUESTION_FLAG := $(if $(findstring q,$(MAKEFLAGS)),-i,)
 
 #-------------------------------------------------------
 ifdef T_A
diff --git a/configure/RULES_BUILD b/configure/RULES_BUILD
index 14e7a32ea..49e6f78ce 100644
--- a/configure/RULES_BUILD
+++ b/configure/RULES_BUILD
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ endif
 
 # RELEASE file consistency checking
 checkRelease:
-	$(CONVERTRELEASE) checkRelease
+	+$(CONVERTRELEASE) checkRelease
 warnRelease:
 	-$(CONVERTRELEASE) checkRelease
 noCheckRelease:
diff --git a/src/tools/genVersionHeader.pl b/src/tools/genVersionHeader.pl
index c61f14c98..92dbd81b2 100644
--- a/src/tools/genVersionHeader.pl
+++ b/src/tools/genVersionHeader.pl
@@ -23,18 +23,20 @@ my $tfmt = '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M';
 $tfmt .= '%z' unless $^O eq 'MSWin32'; # %z returns zone name on Windows
 my $now = strftime($tfmt, localtime);
 
-our ($opt_h, $opt_v, $opt_q);
+our ($opt_d, $opt_h, $opt_i, $opt_v, $opt_q);
 our $opt_t = '.';
 our $opt_N = 'VCSVERSION';
 our $opt_V = $now;
 
 my $vcs;
 
-getopts('hvqt:N:V:') && @ARGV == 1
+getopts('dhivqt:N:V:') && @ARGV == 1
     or HELP_MESSAGE();
 
 my ($outfile) = @ARGV;
 
+if ($opt_d) { exit 0 } # exit if make is run in dry-run mode
+
 if (!$vcs && -d "$opt_t/_darcs") { # Darcs
     print "== Found <top>/_darcs directory\n" if $opt_v;
     # v1-4-dirty
@@ -148,6 +150,8 @@ if (open($DST, '+<', $outfile)) {
         or die "Can't create $outfile: $!\n";
 }
 
+if ($opt_i) { exit 1 }; # exit if make is run in "question" mode
+
 seek $DST, 0, 0;
 truncate $DST, 0;
 print $DST $output;
@@ -158,9 +162,11 @@ sub HELP_MESSAGE {
 Usage:
     genVersionHeader.pl -h
         Display this Usage message
-    genVersionHeader.pl [-v] [-q] [-t top] [-N NAME] [-V version] output.h";
+    genVersionHeader.pl [-v] [-d] [-q] [-t top] [-N NAME] [-V version] output.h";
         Generate or update the header file output.h
         -v         - Verbose (debugging messages)
+        -d         - Dry-run
+        -i         - Question mode
         -q         - Quiet
         -t top     - Path to the module's top (default '$opt_t')
         -N NAME    - Macro name to be defined (default '$opt_N')