diff --git a/docs/installation.md b/docs/installation.md
index 7146ec0f3b..d42cca2bc5 100644
--- a/docs/installation.md
+++ b/docs/installation.md
@@ -27,10 +27,10 @@
 
 To verify the installation, start the Python REPL and execute:
 
-```python
->>> import narwhals
->>> narwhals.__version__
-'1.38.2'
+```python exec="1" source="above" session="quickstart" result="python"
+import narwhals
+
+print(narwhals.__version__)
 ```
 
 If you see the version number, then the installation was successful!
diff --git a/narwhals/__init__.py b/narwhals/__init__.py
index 3c11123161..b4008d460b 100644
--- a/narwhals/__init__.py
+++ b/narwhals/__init__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import typing as _t
+
 from narwhals import dependencies
 from narwhals import dtypes
 from narwhals import exceptions
@@ -81,7 +83,7 @@
 from narwhals.utils import maybe_reset_index
 from narwhals.utils import maybe_set_index
 
-__version__ = "1.38.2"
+__version__: str
 
 __all__ = [
     "Array",
@@ -165,3 +167,16 @@
     "to_py_scalar",
     "when",
 ]
+
+
+def __getattr__(name: _t.Literal["__version__"]) -> str:  # type: ignore[misc]
+    if name == "__version__":
+        global __version__  # noqa: PLW0603
+
+        from importlib import metadata
+
+        __version__ = metadata.version(__name__)
+        return __version__
+    else:
+        msg = f"module {__name__!r} has no attribute {name!r}"
+        raise AttributeError(msg)
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 79a35cae82..02859e244a 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ exclude = [
 line-length = 90
 fix = true
 target-version = "py38"
-extend-exclude = ["utils/bump_version.py", "**/this.py"]
+extend-exclude = ["**/this.py"]
 
 [tool.ruff.lint]
 preview = true
@@ -189,6 +189,7 @@ builtins-ignorelist = ["format"]
 ]
 "tpch/tests/*" = ["S101"]
 "utils/*" = ["S311", "PTH123"]
+"utils/bump_version.py" = ["S603", "S607", "T201"]
 "tpch/execute/*" = ["T201"]
 "tpch/notebooks/*" = [
   "ANN001",
diff --git a/tests/version_test.py b/tests/version_test.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1a1cb034e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/version_test.py
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import re
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import narwhals as nw
+
+
+def test_version_matches_pyproject() -> None:
+    with Path("pyproject.toml").open(encoding="utf-8") as file:
+        content = file.read()
+        pyproject_version = re.search(r'version = "(.*)"', content).group(1)  # type: ignore[union-attr]
+
+    assert nw.__version__ == pyproject_version
diff --git a/utils/bump_version.py b/utils/bump_version.py
index fe4079d607..24dd786ab0 100644
--- a/utils/bump_version.py
+++ b/utils/bump_version.py
@@ -1,80 +1,61 @@
 # mypy: ignore
-# ruff: noqa
-import re
-import subprocess
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import subprocess as sp
 import sys
 
-out = subprocess.run(["git", "fetch", "upstream", "--tags"])
+GIT = "git"
+UV = "uv"
+FETCH = "fetch"
+PUSH = "push"
+COMMIT = "commit"
+UPSTREAM = "upstream"
+TAGS = "--tags"
+TAG = "tag"
+VERSION = "version"
+
+out = sp.run([GIT, FETCH, UPSTREAM, TAGS], check=False)
 if out.returncode != 0:
     print(
-        "Something went wrong with the release process, please check the Narwhals Wiki and try again."
+        "Something went wrong with the release process, please check the Narwhals Wiki for "
+        "at https://github.com/narwhals-dev/narwhals/wiki#release-process and try again."
     )
     print(out)
     sys.exit(1)
-subprocess.run(["git", "reset", "--hard", "upstream/main"])
+sp.run([GIT, "reset", "--hard", "upstream/main"], check=False)
 
 if (
-    subprocess.run(
-        ["git", "branch", "--show-current"], text=True, capture_output=True
+    current_branch := sp.run(
+        [GIT, "branch", "--show-current"], text=True, capture_output=True, check=False
     ).stdout.strip()
-    != "bump-version"
-):
-    msg = "`bump_version.py` should be run from `bump-version` branch"
+) != "bump-version":
+    msg = f"`bump_version.py` should be run from `bump-version` branch instead of `{current_branch}`"
     raise RuntimeError(msg)
 
 # Delete local tags, if present
 try:
     # Get the list of all tags
-    result = subprocess.run(
-        ["git", "tag", "-l"], capture_output=True, text=True, check=True
-    )
+    result = sp.run([GIT, TAG, "-l"], capture_output=True, text=True, check=True)
     tags = result.stdout.splitlines()  # Split the tags into a list by lines
 
-    # Delete each tag using git tag -d
-    for tag in tags:
-        subprocess.run(["git", "tag", "-d", tag], check=True)
+    if tags:
+        # Delete each tag using git tag -d
+        sp.run([GIT, TAG, "-d", *tags], check=True)
+
     print("All local tags have been deleted.")
-except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
+except sp.CalledProcessError as e:
     print(f"An error occurred: {e}")
 
-subprocess.run(["git", "fetch", "upstream", "--tags"])
-subprocess.run(["git", "fetch", "upstream", "--prune", "--tags"])
+sp.run([GIT, FETCH, UPSTREAM, TAGS], check=False)
+sp.run([GIT, FETCH, UPSTREAM, "--prune", TAGS], check=False)
 
 how = sys.argv[1]
 
-with open("pyproject.toml", encoding="utf-8") as f:
-    content = f.read()
-old_version = re.search(r'version = "(.*)"', content).group(1)  # pyright: ignore[reportOptionalMemberAccess]
-version = old_version.split(".")
-if how == "patch":
-    version = ".".join(version[:-1] + [str(int(version[-1]) + 1)])
-elif how == "minor":
-    version = ".".join(version[:-2] + [str(int(version[-2]) + 1), "0"])
-elif how == "major":
-    version = ".".join([str(int(version[0]) + 1), "0", "0"])
-content = content.replace(f'version = "{old_version}"', f'version = "{version}"')
-with open("pyproject.toml", "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
-    f.write(content)
-
-with open("narwhals/__init__.py", encoding="utf-8") as f:
-    content = f.read()
-content = content.replace(
-    f'__version__ = "{old_version}"',
-    f'__version__ = "{version}"',
-)
-with open("narwhals/__init__.py", "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
-    f.write(content)
-
-with open("docs/installation.md", encoding="utf-8") as f:
-    content = f.read()
-content = content.replace(
-    f"'{old_version}'",
-    f"'{version}'",
-)
-with open("docs/installation.md", "w", encoding="utf-8") as f:
-    f.write(content)
+new_version = sp.run(
+    [UV, VERSION, "--bump", how, "--short"], capture_output=True, text=True, check=False
+).stdout
 
-subprocess.run(["git", "commit", "-a", "-m", f"release: Bump version to {version}"])
-subprocess.run(["git", "tag", "-a", f"v{version}", "-m", f"v{version}"])
-subprocess.run(["git", "push", "upstream", "HEAD", "--follow-tags"])
-subprocess.run(["git", "push", "upstream", "HEAD:stable", "-f", "--follow-tags"])
+sp.run([GIT, COMMIT, "-a", "-m", f"release: Bump version to {new_version}"], check=False)
+sp.run([GIT, TAG, "-a", f"v{new_version}", "-m", f"v{new_version}"], check=False)
+sp.run([GIT, PUSH, UPSTREAM, "HEAD", "--follow-tags"], check=False)
+sp.run([GIT, PUSH, UPSTREAM, "HEAD:stable", "-f", "--follow-tags"], check=False)
diff --git a/utils/check_api_reference.py b/utils/check_api_reference.py
index 5954abfd6b..803d6d4e69 100644
--- a/utils/check_api_reference.py
+++ b/utils/check_api_reference.py
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ def iter_api_reference_names(tp: type[Any]) -> Iterator[str]:
 
 # Top level functions
 top_level_functions = [
-    i for i in dir(nw) if not i[0].isupper() and i[0] != "_" and i not in files
+    i for i in nw.__all__ if not i[0].isupper() and i[0] != "_" and i not in files
 ]
 with open("docs/api-reference/narwhals.md") as fd:
     content = fd.read()