diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..01781720cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+0.99.0
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index ec6b460418..29b53022cb 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-AC_INIT([gstreamer-sharp], [0.99.0])
+AC_INIT([gstreamer-sharp], m4_esyscmd([tr -d '\n' < VERSION]))
 AC_CONFIG_SRCDIR([README])
 AC_CANONICAL_TARGET
 AM_INIT_AUTOMAKE
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ AC_PROG_INSTALL
 LT_INIT
 
 dnl Package settings
+ASSEMBLY_VERSION=`cat VERSION`
 ASSEMBLY_COMPANY=""
 ASSEMBLY_COPYRIGHT="2013 GStreamerSharp Contributors"
 ASSEMBLY_DESCRIPTION="Gst-1.0 bindings for Mono"
@@ -15,7 +16,6 @@ ASSEMBLY_NAMESPACE="Gst"
 ASSEMBLY_PC="gstreamer-sharp-1.0"
 ASSEMBLY_SHORTNAME="gstreamer"
 ASSEMBLY_TITLE="Gst#"
-ASSEMBLY_VERSION="0.99.0"
 AC_SUBST([ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS], ["-I m4 \${ACLOCAL_FLAGS}"])
 
 AC_SUBST(ASSEMBLY_NAME)