diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 2c67c669f5f6a896660d0c2dcfbecf420c325e7e..2d1980bb6ae4de5651da329bd794b58b2c8f7e0d 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -44,9 +44,18 @@ class SimpleTestRunner(distutils.cmd.Command):
         for test in quick_tests:
             self._run_tests_in_module(test)
 
+try:
+    sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath('doc'))
+    from version_from_git import version_number_from_git
+
+    version = version_number_from_git()
+    with open("RELEASE-VERSION", "w") as f:
+        f.write(version)
+except ImportError:
+    version = open('RELEASE-VERSION', 'r').read()
 
 setup(name='lbmpy',
-      version=version_number_from_git(),
+      version=version,
       description='Code Generation for Lattice Boltzmann Methods',
       author='Martin Bauer',
       license='AGPLv3',