diff --git a/.github/release-please-config.json b/.github/release-please-config.json
index 4fccf055..7386f9a6 100644
--- a/.github/release-please-config.json
+++ b/.github/release-please-config.json
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
     ".": {
       "release-type": "python",
       "package-name": "hcloud",
-      "extra-files": ["hcloud/__version__.py"]
+      "extra-files": ["hcloud/_version.py"]
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/docs/conf.py b/docs/conf.py
index b3be9a7f..df08f92c 100644
--- a/docs/conf.py
+++ b/docs/conf.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 from datetime import datetime
 
 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath(".."))
-from hcloud.__version__ import VERSION  # noqa
+import hcloud  # noqa
 
 # Configuration file for the Sphinx documentation builder.
 #
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@
 author = "Hetzner Cloud GmbH"
 copyright = f"{datetime.now().year}, {author}"
 
-version = VERSION
-release = VERSION
+version = hcloud.__version__
+release = hcloud.__version__
 
 # -- General configuration ---------------------------------------------------
 # https://www.sphinx-doc.org/en/master/usage/configuration.html#general-configuration
diff --git a/hcloud/__init__.py b/hcloud/__init__.py
index 6b69b169..2cf99212 100644
--- a/hcloud/__init__.py
+++ b/hcloud/__init__.py
@@ -5,3 +5,4 @@
     APIException as APIException,
     HCloudException as HCloudException,
 )
+from ._version import __version__  # noqa
diff --git a/hcloud/__version__.py b/hcloud/__version__.py
deleted file mode 100644
index d350d713..00000000
--- a/hcloud/__version__.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-from __future__ import annotations
-
-VERSION = "1.35.0"  # x-release-please-version
diff --git a/hcloud/_client.py b/hcloud/_client.py
index a12f204c..37aa1bd7 100644
--- a/hcloud/_client.py
+++ b/hcloud/_client.py
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@
 
 import requests
 
-from .__version__ import VERSION
 from ._exceptions import APIException
+from ._version import __version__
 from .actions import ActionsClient
 from .certificates import CertificatesClient
 from .datacenters import DatacentersClient
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 class Client:
     """Base Client for accessing the Hetzner Cloud API"""
 
-    _version = VERSION
+    _version = __version__
     _retry_wait_time = 0.5
     __user_agent_prefix = "hcloud-python"
 
diff --git a/hcloud/_version.py b/hcloud/_version.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a0954297
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hcloud/_version.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+__version__ = "1.35.0"  # x-release-please-version
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 3d98e02f..9d2cc96d 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -5,13 +5,9 @@
 with open("README.md", encoding="utf-8") as readme_file:
     readme = readme_file.read()
 
-version = {}
-with open("hcloud/__version__.py", encoding="utf-8") as fp:
-    exec(fp.read(), version)
-
 setup(
     name="hcloud",
-    version=version["VERSION"],
+    version="1.35.0",
     keywords="hcloud hetzner cloud",
     description="Official Hetzner Cloud python library",
     long_description=readme,