diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index f84b2083b1dba94b4ed1a4a93a45da140e09c31b..2fed792cf6ea4f96b20193964d872905b48d7561 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.13)
 
-exec_program("git" ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR} ARGS "describe --abbrev=0 --tags" OUTPUT_VARIABLE GIT_TAG)
+file(READ VERSION PROJECT_VERSION)
 
 project(biotracker-utility
-    VERSION ${GIT_TAG}
+    VERSION ${PROJECT_VERSION}
     LANGUAGES CXX)
 
 include(GNUInstallDirs)
diff --git a/version.txt b/VERSION
similarity index 100%
rename from version.txt
rename to VERSION