diff --git a/crates/api/src/site/leave_admin.rs b/crates/api/src/site/leave_admin.rs
index 0d149d07d..f2db0fc26 100644
--- a/crates/api/src/site/leave_admin.rs
+++ b/crates/api/src/site/leave_admin.rs
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ use lemmy_db_views::structs::{CustomEmojiView, LocalUserView, SiteView};
 use lemmy_db_views_actor::structs::PersonView;
 use lemmy_utils::{
   error::{LemmyError, LemmyErrorType},
-  version,
+  VERSION,
 };
 
 #[tracing::instrument(skip(context))]
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ pub async fn leave_admin(
   Ok(Json(GetSiteResponse {
     site_view,
     admins,
-    version: version::VERSION.to_string(),
+    version: VERSION.to_string(),
     my_user: None,
     all_languages,
     discussion_languages,
diff --git a/crates/api_common/src/request.rs b/crates/api_common/src/request.rs
index 7c8768e41..d77ea2daa 100644
--- a/crates/api_common/src/request.rs
+++ b/crates/api_common/src/request.rs
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ use lemmy_utils::{
   error::{LemmyError, LemmyErrorType},
   settings::structs::{PictrsImageMode, Settings},
   spawn_try_task,
-  version::VERSION,
   REQWEST_TIMEOUT,
+  VERSION,
 };
 use mime::Mime;
 use reqwest::{header::CONTENT_TYPE, Client, ClientBuilder};
@@ -32,11 +32,7 @@ use urlencoding::encode;
 use webpage::HTML;
 
 pub fn client_builder(settings: &Settings) -> ClientBuilder {
-  let user_agent = format!(
-    "Lemmy/{}; +{}",
-    VERSION,
-    settings.get_protocol_and_hostname()
-  );
+  let user_agent = format!("Lemmy/{VERSION}; +{}", settings.get_protocol_and_hostname());
 
   Client::builder()
     .user_agent(user_agent.clone())
diff --git a/crates/api_crud/src/site/read.rs b/crates/api_crud/src/site/read.rs
index e99a222fa..77113b08a 100644
--- a/crates/api_crud/src/site/read.rs
+++ b/crates/api_crud/src/site/read.rs
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ use lemmy_db_views_actor::structs::{
 };
 use lemmy_utils::{
   error::{LemmyError, LemmyErrorExt, LemmyErrorType},
-  version,
+  VERSION,
 };
 use moka::future::Cache;
 use once_cell::sync::Lazy;
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ pub async fn get_site(
       Ok(GetSiteResponse {
         site_view,
         admins,
-        version: version::VERSION.to_string(),
+        version: VERSION.to_string(),
         my_user: None,
         all_languages,
         discussion_languages,
diff --git a/crates/routes/src/nodeinfo.rs b/crates/routes/src/nodeinfo.rs
index 06d4c2dd6..62082b4c8 100644
--- a/crates/routes/src/nodeinfo.rs
+++ b/crates/routes/src/nodeinfo.rs
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ use lemmy_db_views::structs::SiteView;
 use lemmy_utils::{
   cache_header::{cache_1hour, cache_3days},
   error::LemmyError,
-  version,
+  VERSION,
 };
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use url::Url;
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ async fn node_info(context: web::Data<LemmyContext>) -> Result<HttpResponse, Err
     version: Some("2.0".to_string()),
     software: Some(NodeInfoSoftware {
       name: Some("lemmy".to_string()),
-      version: Some(version::VERSION.to_string()),
+      version: Some(VERSION.to_string()),
     }),
     protocols,
     usage: Some(NodeInfoUsage {
diff --git a/crates/utils/src/lib.rs b/crates/utils/src/lib.rs
index c2760d9d9..d8e112f89 100644
--- a/crates/utils/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/utils/src/lib.rs
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ cfg_if! {
     pub mod response;
     pub mod settings;
     pub mod utils;
-    pub mod version;
   }
 }
 
@@ -20,6 +19,8 @@ use std::time::Duration;
 
 pub type ConnectionId = usize;
 
+pub const VERSION: &str = env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION");
+
 pub const REQWEST_TIMEOUT: Duration = Duration::from_secs(10);
 
 #[macro_export]
diff --git a/crates/utils/src/version.rs b/crates/utils/src/version.rs
deleted file mode 100644
index ac0896a3c..000000000
--- a/crates/utils/src/version.rs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-pub const VERSION: &str = "unknown version";
diff --git a/docker/Dockerfile b/docker/Dockerfile
index 39804ee82..9539402df 100644
--- a/docker/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/Dockerfile
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ COPY . ./
 # Debug build
 RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/lemmy/target set -ex; \
     if [ "${RUST_RELEASE_MODE}" = "debug" ]; then \
-        echo "pub const VERSION: &str = \"$(git describe --tag)\";" > crates/utils/src/version.rs; \
         cargo build --features "${CARGO_BUILD_FEATURES}"; \
         mv target/"${RUST_RELEASE_MODE}"/lemmy_server ./lemmy_server; \
     fi
@@ -36,7 +35,6 @@ RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/lemmy/target set -ex; \
 # Release build
 RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/lemmy/target set -ex; \
     if [ "${RUST_RELEASE_MODE}" = "release" ]; then \
-        echo "pub const VERSION: &str = \"$(git describe --tag)\";" > crates/utils/src/version.rs; \
         [ -z "$USE_RELEASE_CACHE" ] && cargo clean --release; \
         cargo build --features "${CARGO_BUILD_FEATURES}" --release; \
         mv target/"${RUST_RELEASE_MODE}"/lemmy_server ./lemmy_server; \
@@ -63,7 +61,6 @@ ENV RUST_RELEASE_MODE=${RUST_RELEASE_MODE} \
 # Debug build
 RUN --mount=type=cache,target=./target,uid=10001,gid=10001 set -ex; \
     if [ "${RUST_RELEASE_MODE}" = "debug" ]; then \
-        echo "pub const VERSION: &str = \"$(git describe --tag)\";" > crates/utils/src/version.rs; \
         cargo build --features "${CARGO_BUILD_FEATURES}"; \
         mv "./target/$CARGO_BUILD_TARGET/$RUST_RELEASE_MODE/lemmy_server" /home/lemmy/lemmy_server; \
     fi
@@ -71,7 +68,6 @@ RUN --mount=type=cache,target=./target,uid=10001,gid=10001 set -ex; \
 # Release build
 RUN --mount=type=cache,target=./target,uid=10001,gid=10001 set -ex; \
     if [ "${RUST_RELEASE_MODE}" = "release" ]; then \
-        echo "pub const VERSION: &str = \"$(git describe --tag)\";" > crates/utils/src/version.rs; \
         [ -z "$USE_RELEASE_CACHE" ] && cargo clean --release; \
         cargo build --features "${CARGO_BUILD_FEATURES}" --release; \
         mv "./target/$CARGO_BUILD_TARGET/$RUST_RELEASE_MODE/lemmy_server" /home/lemmy/lemmy_server; \
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 1b2507f4e..777c5d9ce 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ use lemmy_utils::{
   rate_limit::RateLimitCell,
   response::jsonify_plain_text_errors,
   settings::{structs::Settings, SETTINGS},
-  version,
+  VERSION,
 };
 use prometheus::default_registry;
 use prometheus_metrics::serve_prometheus;
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ pub struct CmdArgs {
 /// Placing the main function in lib.rs allows other crates to import it and embed Lemmy
 pub async fn start_lemmy_server(args: CmdArgs) -> Result<(), LemmyError> {
   // Print version number to log
-  println!("Lemmy v{}", version::VERSION);
+  println!("Lemmy v{VERSION}");
 
   // return error 503 while running db migrations and startup tasks
   let mut startup_server_handle = None;