diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 56b8976..398a8f4 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ __pycache__
 *.c
 
 # Other generated files
-*/version.py
 */cython_version.py
 htmlcov
 .coverage
diff --git a/astrowidgets/_astropy_init.py b/astrowidgets/_astropy_init.py
index 216d31a..486e940 100644
--- a/astrowidgets/_astropy_init.py
+++ b/astrowidgets/_astropy_init.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # Licensed under a 3-clause BSD style license - see LICENSE.rst
 
-__all__ = ['__version__', '__githash__']
+__all__ = ['__version__']
 
 # this indicates whether or not we are in the package's setup.py
 try:
@@ -17,11 +17,6 @@
     from .version import version as __version__
 except ImportError:
     __version__ = ''
-try:
-    from .version import githash as __githash__
-except ImportError:
-    __githash__ = ''
-
 
 if not _ASTROPY_SETUP_:  # noqa
     import os
diff --git a/astrowidgets/version.py b/astrowidgets/version.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..71b9634
--- /dev/null
+++ b/astrowidgets/version.py
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+version = 'unknown.dev'
+try:
+    from importlib_metadata import version as _version, PackageNotFoundError
+    version = _version('my-package')
+except ImportError:
+    from pkg_resources import get_distribution, DistributionNotFound
+    try:
+        version = get_distribution("my-package").version
+    except DistributionNotFound:
+        pass
+except PackageNotFoundError:
+    pass
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 54a891e..0889579 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 [build-system]
 requires = ["setuptools",
+            "setuptools_scm",
             "wheel"]
 build-backend = 'setuptools.build_meta'
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index bf3a075..b277fae 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ github_project = astropy/astrowidgets
 [options]
 zip_safe = False
 packages = find:
+setup_requires = setuptools_scm
 install_requires =
     astropy
     ginga