diff --git a/bin/installbfa.sh b/bin/installbfa.sh
index 8d99463ccbd01e4e550aa38dc88d44cfdeedeee2..4f27263043ddfeb3dbfdd4d38a9934be90410714 100755
--- a/bin/installbfa.sh
+++ b/bin/installbfa.sh
@@ -124,12 +124,15 @@ function gethinstall
     if [ -d ${NEW}/go-ethereum ]
     then
     	info "Running git pull to ensure that the local go-ethereum repo is up-to-date."
+        runasownerof ${NEW}/go-ethereum git checkout master
         runasownerof ${NEW}/go-ethereum git pull
     else
     	info "Download geth source code."
         runasownerof ${NEW} git clone https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum
     fi
-    info "Compiling geth"
+    runasownerof ${NEW}/go-ethereum git checkout ${geth_tag}
+    chown -R bfa ${NEW}/go-ethereum
+    info "Compiling geth tagged as ${geth_tag}"
     runasownerof ${NEW}/go-ethereum make all
     HISBINDIR=$( echo ~bfa/bin )
     install --verbose --owner=bfa --group=bfa --directory ${HISBINDIR}
@@ -197,6 +200,7 @@ function userconfig
         cp -p ${BFAHOME}/$envfile ${BFAHOME}/bin/env
     fi
     PATH=${PATH}:${BFAHOME}/bin
+    source ${BFAHOME}/lib/versions
 }
 
 function cronit
diff --git a/bin/installsolc.sh b/bin/installsolc.sh
index e570285762fe861b0eb25b063b4808cf1f0fafcd..e62c80748a74b3f2b93481e181c4f7fd5fbd33dd 100755
--- a/bin/installsolc.sh
+++ b/bin/installsolc.sh
@@ -3,21 +3,25 @@
 trap "exit 1" ERR
 set -x
 
+source ${BFAHOME}/lib/versions
+
 test -d ~/new || mkdir ~/new
 cd ~/new
 if [ -d "solidity" ]
 then
     cd solidity
+    git checkout develop
     git pull
 else
     git clone --recursive https://github.com/ethereum/solidity.git
     cd solidity
 fi
+git checkout ${solidity_tag}
 
 scripts/install_deps.sh 
 
 mkdir -p build 
 cd build
-cmake ..
+cmake .. -DUSE_Z3=OFF
 make solc
 install --owner=bfa --target-directory=$( echo ~bfa )/bin solc/solc
diff --git a/lib/versions b/lib/versions
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ce017251c911b89719d277f63f8fa2e1134e5180
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/versions
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+geth_tag=v1.8.27
+solidity_tag=v0.5.0