diff --git a/scripts/adcli.sh b/scripts/adcli.sh
index afb06455e41ce1d44ccdbf71a1f369786dbd0635..78f9fdca3677eaa0be29a3ce145d3b506c85ae55 100755
--- a/scripts/adcli.sh
+++ b/scripts/adcli.sh
@@ -2,11 +2,9 @@
 
 source "${BASH_SOURCE%/*}/common.sh"
 
-VERSION=$(get_sources adcli stretch)
+get_sources adcli stretch
 import_patches adcli
-
-dch_custom $VERSION "Apply the unreleased upstream-patches, fixing RT#100"
-
+dch_custom "Apply the unreleased upstream-patches, fixing RT#100"
 install_build_deps
 build
 test_install
diff --git a/scripts/common.sh b/scripts/common.sh
index 47cdd158bd14c903da60590b6e42cb6c29feefb7..e8cf1b110ba7d391c1cef3c934b086bfcac3ed77 100755
--- a/scripts/common.sh
+++ b/scripts/common.sh
@@ -2,25 +2,18 @@
 
 # $1: source package name
 # $2: distribution
-# ->: version number retrieved
 function get_sources() {
-	local version
 	apt-get source --only-source -t $2 $1
-	version=$(rmadison $1 --architecture=all,amd64 -s $2 | head -n1 | cut -d\| -f2 | sed s"/ //g" | sed s"/\-.*$//g")
+	local version=$(rmadison $1 --architecture=all,amd64 -s $2 | head -n1 | cut -d\| -f2 | sed s"/ //g" | sed s"/\-.*$//g")
 	cd $1-$version
-	return $version
 }
 
 # $1: source package name
 # $2: git repository
-# ->: version number retrieved
 function get_git_sources() {
-	local version
 	git clone $2 $1
 	cd $1
 	git tag --sort "version:refname" -l | tail -n1 | xargs git checkout
-	version=$(git tag --sort "version:refname" -l | tail -n1 | sed s/v//)
-	return $version
 }
 
 # $1: patch directory name
@@ -40,11 +33,9 @@ function apply_patches_manually() {
 	done
 }
 
-# $1: official version number
-# $2: changelog entry
+# $1: changelog entry
 function dch_custom() {
-	# TODO consider using local suffixes like backports
-	debchange --preserve --newversion $1-fsmpi $2
+	debchange --local ~fsmpi+ $1
 }
 
 function dch_backport() {
diff --git a/scripts/ganeti.sh b/scripts/ganeti.sh
index 1bce22880d1e411a590e732bf9a638b1a5da180e..a1684b34d23b1ff85b9b0767eb06c15e7593869f 100755
--- a/scripts/ganeti.sh
+++ b/scripts/ganeti.sh
@@ -2,13 +2,13 @@
 
 source "${BASH_SOURCE%/*}/common.sh"
 
-VERSION=$(get_sources ganeti stretch)
+get_sources ganeti stretch
 import_patches ganeti
 
-dch_custom $VERSION "Fix broken ceph support in bdev.py, see GitHub #1233." 
-dch_custom $VERSION "Remove blockdev storage from the movable and mirrored devices lists."
-dch_custom $VERSION "Increase maximum disk count per instance."
-dch_custom $VERSION "Add support for disk cache usage with rbd devices."
+dch_custom "Fix broken ceph support in bdev.py, see GitHub #1233." 
+dch_custom "Remove blockdev storage from the movable and mirrored devices lists."
+dch_custom "Increase maximum disk count per instance."
+dch_custom "Add support for disk cache usage with rbd devices."
 
 install_build_deps
 build
diff --git a/scripts/grml-zsh-config.sh b/scripts/grml-zsh-config.sh
index bf99b855d2b0082d07c4be7f594b89819416fddc..4a1c0734eb2d87f25af394dd8bec555b30ed884b 100755
--- a/scripts/grml-zsh-config.sh
+++ b/scripts/grml-zsh-config.sh
@@ -2,12 +2,11 @@
 
 source "${BASH_SOURCE%/*}/common.sh"
 
-VERSION=$(get_git_sources grml-zsh-config https://github.com/grml/grml-etc-core )
+get_git_sources grml-zsh-config https://github.com/grml/grml-etc-core
 apply_patches_manually grml-zsh-config
 sed -i s/grml-etc-core/grml-zsh-config/g debian/changelog
 
-dch_custom $VERSION "Remove unneeded grml-configs"
-
+dch_custom "Remove unneeded grml-configs"
 install_build_deps
 build
 test_install
diff --git a/scripts/nginx-shib.sh b/scripts/nginx-shib.sh
index f4d7c7237ab19c2c1d9f58e0fb8d55d12f4cf7ba..f97572d25bd20d87a1f26f1db54895d61d2f34b1 100755
--- a/scripts/nginx-shib.sh
+++ b/scripts/nginx-shib.sh
@@ -2,8 +2,7 @@
 
 source "${BASH_SOURCE%/*}/common.sh"
 
-VERSION=$(get_sources nginx stretch)
-
+get_sources nginx stretch
 cd debian
 cp libnginx-mod.nginx.skeleton libnginx-mod-http-shibboleth.nginx
 cd modules
@@ -11,8 +10,7 @@ git clone "https://github.com/nginx-shib/nginx-http-shibboleth.git"
 cd ../..
 patch -d . -p0 < ../patches/nginx/00-add-module.patch
 
-dch_custom $VERSION "Add libnginx-mod-http-shibboleth"
-
+dch_custom "Add libnginx-mod-http-shibboleth"
 install_build_deps
 build
 test_install
diff --git a/scripts/painintheapt.sh b/scripts/painintheapt.sh
index b09240c21ce0567dfca0977634552f0e22a9ba87..d6ab884a13da0d3716847578f10bdd2d0d8af090 100755
--- a/scripts/painintheapt.sh
+++ b/scripts/painintheapt.sh
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ source "${BASH_SOURCE%/*}/common.sh"
 echo "deb-src http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/debian/ buster main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/buster_src.list
 apt-get update
 
-VERSION=$(get_sources painintheapt buster)
+get_sources painintheapt buster
 import_patches painintheapt
 
 sed -i '/python3-sleekxmpp/d' debian/control
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@ sed -i 's/Build-Depends: debhelper (>= 11),/Build-Depends: debhelper (>= 10),/g'
 echo "10" > debian/compat
 
 dch_backport
-dch_custom $VERSION "Add HTTP-JSON support."
-dch_custom $VERSION "Remove XMPP support."
+dch_custom "Add HTTP-JSON support."
+dch_custom "Remove XMPP support."
 
 install_build_deps
 build