diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 19fcae5..6ce3344 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ where=["src"]
 write_to = "src/snkf/_version.py"
 version_scheme = "python-simplified-semver"
 local_scheme="no-local-version"
+fallback_version="v99-dev"
 
 [tool.coverage.report]
 precision = 2
diff --git a/src/snkf/__init__.py b/src/snkf/__init__.py
index 59fe7a8..7dfa9c1 100644
--- a/src/snkf/__init__.py
+++ b/src/snkf/__init__.py
@@ -25,15 +25,10 @@
     "load_from_yaml",
 ]
 
-try:
-    # -- Distribution mode --
-    # import from _version.py generated by setuptools_scm during release
-    from ._version import version as __version__
-except ImportError:  # pragma: no cover
-    # -- Source mode --
-    # use setuptools_scm to get the current version from src using git
-    from os import path as _path
-
-    from setuptools_scm import get_version as _gv
+from importlib.metadata import version, PackageNotFoundError
 
-    __version__ = _gv(_path.join(_path.dirname(__file__), _path.pardir))
+try:
+    __version__ = version(__name__)
+except PackageNotFoundError:
+    # package is not installed
+    pass