diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
index 9da9ede2616..1ecf1c4d000 100644
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -3,22 +3,22 @@
 	url = git://git.qemu-project.org/vgabios.git/
 [submodule "roms/seabios"]
 	path = roms/seabios
-	url = git://git.qemu-project.org/seabios.git/
+	url = https://gitlab.com/qemu-project/seabios.git/
 [submodule "roms/SLOF"]
 	path = roms/SLOF
-	url = git://git.qemu-project.org/SLOF.git
+	url = https://gitlab.com/qemu-project/SLOF.git
 [submodule "roms/ipxe"]
 	path = roms/ipxe
-	url = git://git.qemu-project.org/ipxe.git
+	url = https://gitlab.com/qemu-project/ipxe.git
 [submodule "roms/openbios"]
 	path = roms/openbios
-	url = git://git.qemu-project.org/openbios.git
+	url = https://gitlab.com/qemu-project/openbios.git
 [submodule "roms/openhackware"]
 	path = roms/openhackware
 	url = git://git.qemu-project.org/openhackware.git
 [submodule "roms/qemu-palcode"]
 	path = roms/qemu-palcode
-	url = git://github.com/rth7680/qemu-palcode.git
+	url = https://gitlab.com/qemu-project/qemu-palcode.git
 [submodule "roms/sgabios"]
 	path = roms/sgabios
 	url = git://git.qemu-project.org/sgabios.git
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
 	url = git://anongit.freedesktop.org/pixman
 [submodule "dtc"]
 	path = dtc
-	url = git://git.qemu-project.org/dtc.git
+	url = https://gitlab.com/qemu-project/dtc.git
 [submodule "roms/u-boot"]
 	path = roms/u-boot
-	url = git://git.qemu-project.org/u-boot.git
+	url = https://gitlab.com/qemu-project/u-boot.git
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 0bc096e746a..3859098048a 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ clean:
 	rm -f $$d/qemu-options.def; \
         done
 
-VERSION ?= $(shell cat VERSION)
+VERSION ?= $(shell cat VERSION.txt)
 
 dist: qemu-$(VERSION).tar.bz2
 
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION.txt
similarity index 100%
rename from VERSION
rename to VERSION.txt
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 2f17bf38030..219b4da72a7 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -727,7 +727,7 @@ for opt do
   case "$opt" in
   --help|-h) show_help=yes
   ;;
-  --version|-V) exec cat $source_path/VERSION
+  --version|-V) exec cat $source_path/VERSION.txt
   ;;
   --prefix=*) prefix="$optarg"
   ;;
@@ -1419,7 +1419,7 @@ fi
 
 # Consult white-list to determine whether to enable werror
 # by default.  Only enable by default for git builds
-z_version=`cut -f3 -d. $source_path/VERSION`
+z_version=`cut -f3 -d. $source_path/VERSION.txt`
 
 if test -z "$werror" ; then
     if test -d "$source_path/.git" -a \
@@ -4386,7 +4386,7 @@ if test "$bigendian" = "yes" ; then
 fi
 if test "$mingw32" = "yes" ; then
   echo "CONFIG_WIN32=y" >> $config_host_mak
-  rc_version=`cat $source_path/VERSION`
+  rc_version=`cat $source_path/VERSION.txt`
   version_major=${rc_version%%.*}
   rc_version=${rc_version#*.}
   version_minor=${rc_version%%.*}
@@ -4491,7 +4491,7 @@ fi
 if test "$xfs" = "yes" ; then
   echo "CONFIG_XFS=y" >> $config_host_mak
 fi
-qemu_version=`head $source_path/VERSION`
+qemu_version=`head $source_path/VERSION.txt`
 echo "VERSION=$qemu_version" >>$config_host_mak
 echo "PKGVERSION=$pkgversion" >>$config_host_mak
 echo "SRC_PATH=$source_path" >> $config_host_mak
diff --git a/libcacard/Makefile b/libcacard/Makefile
index 0e7903fcfbd..4303222dec7 100644
--- a/libcacard/Makefile
+++ b/libcacard/Makefile
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ libcacard.la: $(libcacard-lobj-y)
 libcacard.pc: $(SRC_PATH)/libcacard/libcacard.pc.in
 	$(call quiet-command,sed -e 's|@LIBDIR@|$(libdir)|' \
 		-e 's|@INCLUDEDIR@|$(libcacard_includedir)|' \
-	    -e 's|@VERSION@|$(shell cat $(SRC_PATH)/VERSION)|' \
+	    -e 's|@VERSION@|$(shell cat $(SRC_PATH)/VERSION.txt)|' \
 		-e 's|@PREFIX@|$(prefix)|' $< > libcacard.pc,\
 	"  GEN   $@")
 
diff --git a/po/Makefile b/po/Makefile
index b271f79ba2a..b3a7dfc9bfd 100644
--- a/po/Makefile
+++ b/po/Makefile
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ include $(SRC_PATH)/rules.mak
 
 PO_PATH=$(SRC_PATH)/po
 
-VERSION=$(shell cat $(SRC_PATH)/VERSION)
+VERSION=$(shell cat $(SRC_PATH)/VERSION.txt)
 SRCS=$(filter-out $(PO_PATH)/messages.po,$(wildcard $(PO_PATH)/*.po))
 OBJS=$(patsubst $(PO_PATH)/%.po,%.mo,$(SRCS))