diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index a6b2a53..f06e69b 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -108,8 +108,5 @@ spellcheck.txt
 # Test data
 vtkplotlib/data/test-data.json
 
-# version file
-vtkplotlib/__version__.py
-
 # PyCharm project
 .idea/
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 1a17aad..0e1f3dc 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -6,26 +6,18 @@
 """
 
 from setuptools import setup, find_packages
-from distutils.command.build import build
 import sys
 from os import path
+import runpy
 
 HERE = path.split(__file__)[0]
 
 with open(path.join(HERE, "README.md"), "r") as fh:
     long_description = fh.read()
 
-with open(path.join(HERE, "version"), "r") as fh:
-    version = fh.read().strip().lstrip("v")
-
-
-class Build(build):
-
-    def run(self):
-        with open(path.join(HERE, "vtkplotlib", "__version__.py"), "w") as fh:
-            fh.write("# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-\n__version__ = \"{}\"\n"
-                     .format(version)) # yapf: disable
-        build.run(self)
+version = runpy.run_path(
+    path.join(HERE, "vtkplotlib", "__version__.py"),
+)["__version__"]
 
 setup(name='vtkplotlib',
       version=version,
@@ -52,7 +44,6 @@ def run(self):
                         "PyQt5" if sys.version_info.major >= 3 else "python_qt5",
                         "numpy-stl", "namegenerator", "PILLOW"],
       },
-      cmdclass={"build": Build},
       entry_points={
           "pyinstaller40": ["hook-dirs = vtkplotlib.data:_get_hooks_dir"]
       },
diff --git a/version b/version
deleted file mode 100644
index 347f583..0000000
--- a/version
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-1.4.1
diff --git a/vtkplotlib/__version__.py b/vtkplotlib/__version__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0086b1c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vtkplotlib/__version__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+__version__ = "1.4.1"