diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
index b778898..cec9dc9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -48,18 +48,27 @@ jobs:
           with open(os.environ['GITHUB_OUTPUT'], 'a') as out:
               out.write(f'tags={tags_csv}\n')
               out.write(f'push={push}\n')
+      - name: Set version
+        run: |
+          if [ '${{ github.ref_type }}' = 'tag' ]; then
+            rye version '${{ github.ref_name }}'
+          else
+            commit='${{ github.sha }}'
+            rye version "0.0.0.dev1+commit.${commit:0:7}"
+          fi
+          rye version > src/chrisomatic/version.txt
       - name: Build Python wheel
         run: rye build --wheel --clean
       - uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
       - name: Login to DockerHub
-        if: github.event_name == 'push' || github.event_name == 'release'
+        if: github.event_name == 'push'
         id: dockerhub_login
         uses: docker/login-action@v3
         with:
           username: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}
           password: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_PASSWORD }}
       - name: Login to GitHub Container Registry
-        if: github.event_name == 'push' || github.event_name == 'release'
+        if: github.event_name == 'push'
         uses: docker/login-action@v3
         with:
           registry: ghcr.io
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 77dc859..1aa467e 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "chrisomatic"
-version = "0.9.0"
+version = "0.0.0"  # version is set by `rye version` in .github/workflows/build.yml
 description = "ChRIS backend provisioner"
 authors = [
     { name = "Jennings Zhang", email = "Jennings.Zhang@childrens.harvard.edu" }
diff --git a/src/chrisomatic/__init__.py b/src/chrisomatic/__init__.py
index f8d3f15..70cd492 100644
--- a/src/chrisomatic/__init__.py
+++ b/src/chrisomatic/__init__.py
@@ -1,8 +1 @@
-from importlib.metadata import Distribution, PackageNotFoundError
-
-
-try:
-    _pkg = Distribution.from_name(__package__)
-    __version__ = _pkg.version
-except PackageNotFoundError:
-    __version__ = "unknown"
+from __version__ import __version__
diff --git a/src/chrisomatic/__version__.py b/src/chrisomatic/__version__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1e8a228
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/chrisomatic/__version__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+from pathlib import Path
+
+__file = Path(__file__).parent / "version.txt"
+__version__ = __file.read_text() if __file.exists() else "0.0.0-unknown"