diff --git a/win32/version.txt b/VERSION
similarity index 100%
rename from win32/version.txt
rename to VERSION
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 7c26197a..1f981fc8 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 project('zoitechat', 'c',
-  version: '2.18.3',
+  version: run_command('cat', 'VERSION', check: true).stdout().strip(),
   meson_version: '>= 0.55.0',
   default_options: [
     'c_std=c17',
diff --git a/packaging/fedora/zoitechat.spec b/packaging/fedora/zoitechat.spec
index fbc7761d..32143425 100644
--- a/packaging/fedora/zoitechat.spec
+++ b/packaging/fedora/zoitechat.spec
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 Name:           zoitechat
-Version:        2.18.3
+Version:        %(cat VERSION)
 Release:        %autorelease
 Summary:        HexChat-based IRC client
 License:        GPL-2.0-or-later WITH cryptsetup-OpenSSL-exception
diff --git a/plugins/python/meson.build b/plugins/python/meson.build
index 84eb5cb7..e1751e02 100644
--- a/plugins/python/meson.build
+++ b/plugins/python/meson.build
@@ -13,8 +13,16 @@ else
   python_dep = dependency(python_opt, version: '>= 2.7')
 endif
 
+python_py_conf = configuration_data()
+python_py_conf.set('VERSION', meson.project_version())
+python_py = configure_file(
+  input: 'python.py',
+  output: 'python.py',
+  configuration: python_py_conf
+)
+
 python3_source = custom_target('python-bindings',
-  input: ['../../src/common/zoitechat-plugin.h', 'python.py'],
+  input: ['../../src/common/zoitechat-plugin.h', python_py],
   output: 'python.c',
   command: [find_program('generate_plugin.py'), '@INPUT@', '@OUTPUT@']
 )
diff --git a/plugins/python/python.py b/plugins/python/python.py
index 94d2e83a..c60a6aa5 100644
--- a/plugins/python/python.py
+++ b/plugins/python/python.py
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ else:
 if not hasattr(sys, 'argv'):
     sys.argv = ['<zoitechat>']
 
-VERSION = b'2.18.3'
+VERSION = b'@VERSION@'
 PLUGIN_NAME = ffi.new('char[]', b'Python')
 PLUGIN_DESC = ffi.new('char[]', b'Python %d.%d scripting interface' % (sys.version_info[0], sys.version_info[1]))
 PLUGIN_VERSION = ffi.new('char[]', VERSION)
diff --git a/win32/version-template.ps1 b/win32/version-template.ps1
index 0a884906..c5d7254d 100644
--- a/win32/version-template.ps1
+++ b/win32/version-template.ps1
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 param ([string] $templateFilename, [string] $outputFilename)
 
-$versionParts = Select-String -Path "${env:SOLUTIONDIR}meson.build" -Pattern "  version: '([^']+)',$" | Select-Object -First 1 | %{ $_.Matches[0].Groups[1].Value.Split('.') }
+$versionParts = (Get-Content "${env:SOLUTIONDIR}VERSION" -Raw).Trim().Split('.')
 
 [string[]] $contents = Get-Content $templateFilename -Encoding UTF8 | %{
 	while ($_ -match '^(.*?)<#=(.*?)#>(.*?)$') {