diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f4841ee0..a0233527 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -162,3 +162,6 @@ cython_debug/
 .idea/
 
 _build/
+
+# setuptools_scm-generated file
+src/genie_python/_version.py
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index c055d372..743597a2 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [build-system]
-requires = ["setuptools", "setuptools_scm>=8"]
+requires = ["setuptools>=64", "setuptools_scm>=8"]
 build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"
 
 
@@ -119,5 +119,6 @@ reportUntypedClassDecorator = true
 reportUntypedFunctionDecorator = true
 
 [tool.setuptools_scm]
+version_file = "src/genie_python/_version.py"
 
 [tool.build_sphinx]
diff --git a/src/genie_python/version.py b/src/genie_python/version.py
index ed339ad0..17d7dc0d 100644
--- a/src/genie_python/version.py
+++ b/src/genie_python/version.py
@@ -1 +1,6 @@
-VERSION = "0.0.0.qualifier"
+from genie_python._version import version
+
+__all__ = ["VERSION"]
+
+# Shim for backwards-compatibility. Version now auto-generated by setuptools_scm.
+VERSION = version