diff --git a/hack/boilerplate/boilerplate.py b/hack/boilerplate/boilerplate.py
index 9ff1d776da3..7165d8e67b3 100755
--- a/hack/boilerplate/boilerplate.py
+++ b/hack/boilerplate/boilerplate.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 from __future__ import print_function
 
 import argparse
+import datetime
 import difflib
 import glob
 import json
@@ -171,12 +172,17 @@ def get_files(extensions):
             outfiles.append(pathname)
     return outfiles
 
+def get_dates():
+    years = datetime.datetime.now().year
+    return '(%s)' % '|'.join((str(year) for year in range(2014, years+1)))
+
 def get_regexs():
     regexs = {}
     # Search for "YEAR" which exists in the boilerplate, but shouldn't in the real thing
     regexs["year"] = re.compile( 'YEAR' )
-    # dates can be 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, or 2018; company holder names can be anything
-    regexs["date"] = re.compile( '(2014|2015|2016|2017|2018)' )
+    # get_dates return 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, or 2018 until the current year as a regex like: "(2014|2015|2016|2017|2018)";
+    # company holder names can be anything
+    regexs["date"] = re.compile(get_dates())
     # strip // +build \n\n build constraints
     regexs["go_build_constraints"] = re.compile(r"^(// \+build.*\n)+\n", re.MULTILINE)
     # strip #!.* from shell scripts