diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
index c28ab72..8120ce7 100644
--- a/MANIFEST.in
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 include README.md
 include LICENSE.md
+include masque/VERSION
diff --git a/masque/VERSION b/masque/VERSION
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2eb3c4f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/masque/VERSION
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+0.5
diff --git a/masque/__init__.py b/masque/__init__.py
index acf7cbc..919a183 100644
--- a/masque/__init__.py
+++ b/masque/__init__.py
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@
     - svgwrite      [masque.file.svg]
 """
 
+import pathlib
+
 from .error import PatternError
 from .shapes import Shape
 from .label import Label
@@ -33,4 +35,6 @@ from .pattern import Pattern
 
 __author__ = 'Jan Petykiewicz'
 
-version = '0.5'
+with open(pathlib.Path(__file__).parent / 'VERSION', 'r') as f:
+    __version__ = f.read().strip()
+version = __version__
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 6cda402..739b5f3 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,13 +1,15 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
 
 from setuptools import setup, find_packages
-import masque
 
 with open('README.md', 'r') as f:
     long_description = f.read()
 
+with open('masque/VERSION', 'r') as f:
+    version = f.read().strip()
+
 setup(name='masque',
-      version=masque.version,
+      version=version,
       description='Lithography mask library',
       long_description=long_description,
       long_description_content_type='text/markdown',
@@ -15,6 +17,9 @@ setup(name='masque',
       author_email='anewusername@gmail.com',
       url='https://mpxd.net/code/jan/masque',
       packages=find_packages(),
+      package_data={
+          'masque': ['VERSION']
+      },
       install_requires=[
             'numpy',
       ],