diff --git a/MANIFEST.in b/MANIFEST.in
index 9361e9d2b5e4ed876ffb8047835898926e6e4475..eb758555d885b8927ad5c098b9f21de402620523 100644
--- a/MANIFEST.in
+++ b/MANIFEST.in
@@ -2,3 +2,4 @@ include Makefile
 include src/*.c
 include include/*.h
 include README.md
+include VERSION
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 31e99f7b940640d6b354ac1de8103109587ec6ec..da0ff542bcdeba45c32009ec0ba45fcb402e058b 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ def version():
     with open("VERSION") as file:
         return file.read().strip()
 
+VERSION_NUMBER = version()
+
 # Functions
 def readme():
     """Opens readme file and returns content"""
@@ -232,7 +234,7 @@ class CustomBuildCommand(distutils.command.build.build):
 
 setup(
     name="binarycpython",
-    version=version(),
+    version=VERSION_NUMBER,
     description="""This is a python API for binary_c (versions {}) by David Hendriks, Rob Izzard and collaborators. Based on the initial set up by Jeff andrews.""".format(
         ",".join(REQUIRED_BINARY_C_VERSIONS),
         ",".join(REQUIRED_BINARY_C_VERSIONS),