diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index ea917e5822d..83424d54403 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 from setuptools import setup, find_packages
 
-from metaflow.version import metaflow_version
-
-version = metaflow_version
+with open("metaflow/version.py", mode="r") as f:
+    version = f.read().splitlines()[0].split("=")[1].strip(" \"'")
 
 setup(
     include_package_data=True,