diff --git a/rivretrieve/__about__.py b/rivretrieve/__about__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3dc1f76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rivretrieve/__about__.py
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+__version__ = "0.1.0"
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 0c48db9..10c0cbe 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -8,9 +8,13 @@
 with open("requirements.txt", "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
     requirements = f.read().splitlines()
 
+about = {}
+with open("rivretrieve/__about__.py", "r") as fp:
+    exec(fp.read(), about)
+
 setup(
     name="rivretrieve",
-    version="0.1.0",
+    version=about["__version__"],
     author="RivRetrieve Python Contributors",
     author_email="f.kratzert@gmail.com",  # Replace with a valid email
     description="A Python package for retrieving global river gauge data.",