diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f84b17c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+0.8.0-pre2
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 9e097b6..76b9ab2 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
+import os.path
 from setuptools import setup, find_packages
 
-version = '0.8.0.dev0'
+version_path = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'VERSION')
+with open(version_path) as fh:
+    version = fh.read().strip()
 
 setup(name='tileserver',
       version=version,