diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 689fed0fd7..6fe38ff5b4 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 .pyenv
+*.pyc
 generated/
 target
 .api.deps
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index d836a2f89e..5ffec9d978 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 .PHONY:  json-to-xml clean help api-deps
+.SUFFIXES:
 
 include Makefile.helpers
 
@@ -9,10 +10,13 @@ PIP := $(VENV_DIR)/bin/pip
 MAKO_RENDER := ./etc/bin/mako-render
 TPL := $(PYTHON) $(MAKO_RENDER)
 
-API_DEPS_TPL = src/mako/deps.mako
+MAKO_SRC = src/mako
+API_DEPS_TPL = $(MAKO_SRC)/deps.mako
 API_DEPS = .api.deps
 API_SHARED_INFO = ./etc/api/shared.yaml
 API_JSON_FILES = $(shell find ./etc -type f -name '*-api.json')
+MAKO_LIB_DIR = $(MAKO_SRC)/lib
+MAKO_LIB_FILES = $(shell find $(MAKO_LIB_DIR) -type f -name '*.mako' -or -name '*.py')
 
 help:
 	$(info using template engine: '$(TPL)')
@@ -28,8 +32,8 @@ $(PYTHON):
 
 $(MAKO_RENDER): $(PYTHON)
 
-$(API_DEPS): $(API_SHARED_INFO) $(API_DEPS_TPL) $(MAKO_RENDER)
-	$(TPL) -io $(API_DEPS_TPL) --data-files $(API_SHARED_INFO) > $@
+$(API_DEPS): $(API_SHARED_INFO) $(API_DEPS_TPL) $(MAKO_LIB_FILES) $(MAKO_RENDER)
+	PYTHONPATH=$(MAKO_LIB_DIR) $(TPL) --template-dir '.' -io $(API_DEPS_TPL) --data-files $(API_SHARED_INFO) > $@
 
 api-deps: $(API_DEPS)
 
diff --git a/etc/bin/mako-render b/etc/bin/mako-render
index e4d62f1a59..2dc01bc1a5 100644
--- a/etc/bin/mako-render
+++ b/etc/bin/mako-render
@@ -288,7 +288,7 @@ def cmdline(argv=None):
         if input_file == '-':
             assert not seen_stdin, "STDIN (-) can only be named once"
             seen_stdin = True
-            lookup_dirs = options.template_dir or ["."]
+            lookup_dirs = options.template_dir or ['.']
             lookup = TemplateLookup(lookup_dirs)
             try:
                 template = Template(sys.stdin.read(), lookup=lookup)
diff --git a/src/mako/cargo.toml.mako b/src/mako/cargo.toml.mako
index e0c5cc80ef..5f5977864d 100644
--- a/src/mako/cargo.toml.mako
+++ b/src/mako/cargo.toml.mako
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+# DO NOT EDIT !
+# This file was generated automatically by '${self.uri}'
+# DO NOT EDIT !
 [package]
 
 name = "${name}${version[1:]}"
diff --git a/src/mako/deps.mako b/src/mako/deps.mako
index 2324c81008..76e464361f 100644
--- a/src/mako/deps.mako
+++ b/src/mako/deps.mako
@@ -1,23 +1,26 @@
 # DO NOT EDIT !
 # This file was generated automatically by '${self.uri}'
 # DO NOT EDIT !
-
+## ${util.to_api_version('v3')}
+## here <%util:to_api_version v="v3"/>
 <%api_info=[]%>\
 % for a in api.list:
 <%
-	gen_root = directories.output + '/' + a.name + a.version[1:]
-	api_name = a.name + a.version
+	import util
+	version = util.to_api_version(a.version)
+	gen_root = directories.output + '/' + a.name + version
+	api_name = a.name + version
 	api_clean = api_name + '-clean'
-	# source, destination
+	# source, destination of individual output files
 	sds = [(directories.mako_src + '/' + i.source + '.mako', gen_root + i.get('output_dir', '') + '/' + i.source) 
 																								for i in api.templates]
 	api_json = directories.api_base + '/' + a.name + '/' + a.version + '/' + a.name + '-api.json'
 	api_json_inputs = api_json + " $(API_SHARED_INFO)"
 	api_info.append((api_name, api_clean, gen_root))
 %>\
-${gen_root}: ${' '.join(i[0] for i in sds)} ${api_json_inputs}
+${gen_root}: ${' '.join(i[0] for i in sds)} ${api_json_inputs} $(MAKO_LIB_FILES) $(MAKO_RENDER)
 	@mkdir -p $@
-	$(TPL) --var OUTPUT_DIR=$@ -io ${' '.join("%s=%s" % (s, d) for s, d in sds)} --data-files ${api_json_inputs}
+	PYTHONPATH=$(MAKO_LIB_DIR) $(TPL) --template-dir '.' --var OUTPUT_DIR=$@ -io ${' '.join("%s=%s" % (s, d) for s, d in sds)} --data-files ${api_json_inputs}
 
 ${api_name}: ${gen_root}
 	
diff --git a/src/mako/lib/util.mako b/src/mako/lib/util.mako
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..be499f38c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/mako/lib/util.mako
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+
+
+
+## This will only work within a substitution, not within python code
+<%def name="to_api_version(v)">\
+	<% assert len(v) >= 2 and v[0] == 'v'%>\
+	## convert it once to int, just to be sure it is an int
+${v[1:]}\
+</%def>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/mako/lib/util.py b/src/mako/lib/util.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ac9d21348f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/mako/lib/util.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+def to_api_version(v):
+	assert len(v) >= 2 and v[0] == 'v'
+	return v[1:]